White House Official Blames Snowmageddon For Already Miserable Unemployment Rate
Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, March 1, 2010, 10:33 PM
The White House announced today that record snow last month will likely distort the already miserable unemployment rate.
Well, you know what they say… “You can’t control nature.”
White House economic adviser Larry Summers told reporters that the February blizzards may distort the record unemployment number.
Reuters reported:
White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.
“The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it’s going to be very important … to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends,” Summers said in an interview with CNBC, according to a transcript.
Construction activity was hit particularly hard by the storms, but many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work.
Summers says that if the jobs report for February is awful to just ignore it.
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Published February 8, 2012 at 8:42 pm - 63 Comments
desertdweller commented:
Yep! That snow really hurt our unemployment numbers in the desert southwest!
When will these folks realize the world doesn’t revolve around Washington, D.C.?
redc1c4 commented:
the numbers must be *really* bad if they feel the need to get out in front of them with a (lame) excuse…. should we start a pool on how far over 10% they are?
AnnS commented:
You mean there wasn’t a lot more employed because of the snow jobs?
AnnS commented:
No pun intended (sarc).
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bg commented:
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typical of Obama, one snow job after another..
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crosspatch commented:
We didn’t have any snow in California. What’s his excuse for the rate out here?
bg commented:
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Summers is awful, unfortunately we can’t ignore him..
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Solaratov commented:
In other words, they’ve seen the numbers – and they’re trying to set up an alibi before the numbers are released to the public.
Is anybody buying that BS?
Didn’t think so.
NeoKong commented:
What about all the snow plow drivers and guys with shovels who found work….?
Moright commented:
Larry and Bo can’t see beyond all the snow in the beltway. And so what the stooges are really saying, w straight faces no doubt, is that global warming is to blame? At least he didn’t blame Bush, this time.
Eric commented:
If we can’t control nature… How is AGW possible? Looks like another AGW buster to me.
Terry in Georgia commented:
Well, how about redirecting some of that previously approved “global warming stash” that we won’t be needing any more to cover for the major miscalculation of the disappearance of snow. Use the money to immediately open exploration of all US resources including oil and natural gas, without limitation, and start the greatest recovery since the booming 20s.
Dave commented:
Well, according to deranged scientist Algore, January was the warmest month in the history of the planet Earth – what happens when it gets cold?
And what is their excuse for the other months of poor unemployment figures? Too hot?
Chris Vehr commented:
Why should we believe anything that White House economic adviser Larry Summers says. He will lie and distort just like the rest.
Jo commented:
when will the exscuses run out?
Methinks Never.
White House = The Lie House, now.
Militant Conservative commented:
Barry don’t you think you should take your doctors advice and “moderate” your alchol intake? LOL what a lying Narcissist.
JPL17 commented:
#2 the numbers must be *really* bad if they feel the need to get out in front of them with a (lame) excuse….should we start a pool on how far over 10% they are?
I’m in! I say 0.5% over.
Bill Mitchell commented:
Um, ok, lemme figure this out.
If it snows and businesses are closed for a few days as a result, are the employees of those businesses therefore “unemployed”?
Doesn’t the government differentiate between “unemployed” and “having a day off”?
I guess unemployment must REALLY skyrocket on the weekends. Most cynical, full-of-sh*t administration eva.
Arch commented:
Pretty lame excuse, especially to someone who lived in Buffalo NY from 1987 until 2006. So how, exactly, does a snow storm adversely affect monthly unemployment? Closing government offices would not increase the jobless rate.
If you were unemployed, it would be more difficult to get to an interview, but it would be just as hard to get to the unemployment office. Wouldn’t these events offset one another? Certainly these appointments would be rescheduled within a week, so it should be a wash on a monthly basis.
Male Silverback commented:
AGW is responsible for job losses??? What will they come up with next?
MerNJ commented:
Wasn’t there some blizzard in NYC in the early 20th century where alot of new immigrants were able to make some good money shovelling snow for the city? Isn’t the snow just God’s way of giving us shovel ready jobs?
Scott commented:
The Feds got at least a week off with pay during the multiple D.C. global warming events…Bring them in on the weekends to make up the time…
Listen up commented:
What a bunch of hogwash! Talk about a snow job. The jerks at the White House must think we are dumber than they are!
Listen up commented:
I guess when July comes they will blame the jobless rate on the heat!
Aitch748 commented:
I live in the DC area. I’d just like to point out that after “Snowmageddon Week,” we had relatively warm temperatures and the snow melted fairly rapidly, and life got back to normal.
It’s just blatantly obvious that this is another excuse for the unemployment picture. Please. If DC wanted to fix the unemployment problem, they would have started by now. It won’t get any better at least until Obama’s out of office.
avery commented:
That remark by “Summer” is to done to replies to.#12 is right on the button,thow that Monster of a Health care bill and Cap and Tax in the garbage ,no tax increase on anything,cut all Govement jobs by 50% get rid of all Green jobs that the govement is invole in.Illegal are holding nearly 8 million jobs that supposely american don”t want “Really”
Greg commented:
Proof that it is getting warmer is the absolute absence of news about the poor and homeless suffering through the winter. Those folks must be doing good in this economy.
Marie commented:
Is there no end to what that evil George Bush can do? Creating snowmaggedeon with his mind rays. Will his evil ever cease?
Marie commented:
Shhh… here is a little secret….. my secretary’s unemployed husband made $2000 plowing driveways with his pickup. Don’t tell the government because it was all in cash.
AuntieMadder commented:
Maria #31
I hope you’re not posting from your business or the poor woman will have the IRS waiting for her in the parking lot this afternoon.
Oh, and your post at #30 is brilliant. I just knew the nasty weather had to be Booosh’s fault.
Marie commented:
I am posting from home. Don’t worry though, if they show up ‘we no hablan inglés.’ They will leave us alone.
Betsy Ross commented:
Bullsh!t meter alert!….
down with dems commented:
All the more reason to pass Crap & Tax.
Unemployment numbers are bad because of so much snow.
All this snow is due to global warming
So… we have to cripple our nation with “environmental” legislation that will raise utility prices to discourage all these unemployed people from using too much power and polluting the planet, plus bankrupt the coal industry which will leave even more people unemployed.
This administration is looking more and more like a chicken running around with its head cut off.
Karen commented:
“Summers says that if the jobs report for February is awful to just ignore it”
Um, no. This proves how important unemployment is to the Obama administration. They prefer to live in DENIAL and IGNORE the problem—ON PURPOSE, I might add. I’m certain that the millions of people without JOBS will be thrilled to hear this! But let’s be sure to promote HEALTHCARE some more because that’s what’s really going to turn things around, right guys????
Karen commented:
Will heat be blamed in the Summer? Allergies in the Spring? Leaves falling in the Fall?
These people are so out of touch with reality it isn’t funny. AT ALL.
Robert commented:
Obama’s new employment czar will get things fired up, I’m sure:
http://stupidassnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/new-employment-czar-is-dirty/
Have a great day!
Chisum commented:
The curtain is lifting…..slowly.
To be (a lawyer) or not to be…
Is the President’s resume accurate when it comes to his career and qualifications? I can corroborate that Obama’s “teaching career” at Chicago was, to put it kindly, a sham.
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/03/to-be-lawyer-or-not-to-be.html
Jane commented:
So I’m in the unemployment ranks here for 3 months running now (first time in 25 years -it’s hell). Went to file my weekly online report over the President’s weekend and the Missouri system was down ALL weekend till Tuesday. I speculated at the time that a) they just shut it down; b) it was overwhelmed by new losses.
BTW: no snow of note in MO this year.
averagemelon commented:
We can collect unemployment checks when it snows real bad? Holy crap! I’m owed an awful lot of money!
Arch commented:
Unemployment rose because small businesses, unsure of the future costs of energy and indirect labor, cut their teams to bare bones and stopped discretionary spending. Others actually shut down.
Look at cap & trade. The government will tax energy, driving prices up 80%. If you liked $5 per gallon gasoline, you’ll enjoy cap & trade. Your utility bills will also go way up. Virtually everything we buy has in it a component of energy. Manufacturers, distributors and retailers will, of necessity, recover those costs though higher prices.
The healthcare fiasco has injected uncertainty into the costs of benefits. Even the CBO admits that you cannot insure another 30 million people and bend the cost curve any way but up. Will small businesses be required to provide healthcare? Will they be fined if they do not? Today is not a good time to ramp up employment with so many unknowns ahead of us.
Ironically, the president’s own words are this economy’s worst enemy. The mantra “never let a crisis go to waste” may work in radical alarmist politics, but overstating the trouble to lower expectations is not helping to create jobs, it’s killing them and prolonging the downturn. Demonizing success is also hurting growth. Why invest and take risks, if the government will tax you into poverty?
alaskan commented:
OK….using this scenario then unemployment will go down when the snow melts. Or can we expectect another ‘unexpected’ excuse?!
How come they didn’t use the snow excuse all last summer?