Most of the media is spinning – mightily – trying to paint the latest jobs figures as the light at the end of the tunnel. Only Reuters – in one of their blogs – is pointing out that the light is the headlamp of the oncoming locomotive.
Remember the stress tests? The baseline scenario had unemployment in 2009 at 8.4%, rising to 8.9% under the more adverse scenario. Well, we’re only up to May, and already it’s at 9.4%.
In other words, things are already worse – by rather a lot – than the “worst case” scenario the much-vaunted “stress tests” tested for. The numbers are – to say the least – bleak.
I predicted that the media would spin abysmal unemployment numbers under Obama as being better than the “horrible”, “awful” and “dismal” figures under Bush – which averaged around 5%. I had no idea they’d try to spin an outright disastrous set of numbers as a bright spot.
I thought they actually had some small amount of shame. Silly me.
This news, coupled with the item I posted yesterday about super genius Little Timmy Geithner’s complete failure to clear toxic assets from bank’s books, I suspect that things are bad and getting worse at the moment. The fact that the situation is already a lot worse than the “stress tests” projected should worry you.
A lot.
Via Memeorandum
