Poor August Job Numbers. I Think a Pattern is Begining to Develop.

New job numbers:

Evidence that the economy is back came early this month when the government
reported there were 144,000 new jobs created in August after lackluster gains in
June and July. At the same time, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.5 percent
to 5.4 percent. This number was a reflection of more people getting discouraged
and dropping out of the work force. Nevertheless, the improvement is being
touted by the Bush administration. The president has emphasized the strength of
the economy as good news.

Of course, Bush will point to the 1/10th percentage point drop in the unemployment rate proof that he is creating jobs, even though what actually happened is that people just gave up. Further, he's certainly going to point to all of the other economic indicators that really indicate nothing more than an increase in corporate profits.