NPR, July 7, 2012, Saturday

NPR

July 7, 2012, Saturday

NPR (full story)

Adjustments Behind The Numbers Shape Job News

GLINTON: That all raises the question: Are us economics geeks missing the forest for the trees? Linda Barrington is a labor economist at Cornell University.

LINDA BARRINGTON: When we look at the monthly unemployment number, we are not just looking at the leaves instead of the forest. We're trying to predict the shape of a specific leaf.

GLINTON: Barrington says there's a really big question nobody is asking about this recovery. It's our third jobless recovery in 20 years. Why do we keep having them?

BARRINGTON: What's changing in the restructuring of jobs in the U.S. that is making it harder and harder for people to get back on their feet after a recession has hit? We're not going to answer that by looking at this month's numbers by everybody holding their breath to see what Friday's number is going to be.