White House Jobs Summit Causes Unemployment Rate to Fall

Providing further proof that there is nothing President Barack Obama cannot do, new job loss numbers have dropped substantially following yesterday's jobs summit at the White House. The nation's unemployment rate has fallen slightly and stands at 10 percent for the month of November.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the strongest job growth has been in temporary employment, with health, education and government work -- all stimulus-susceptible employment areas -- grew. Manufacturing employment continues to shrink.

Calculated Risk notes that employment data are "noisy," and a CR commenter says the new figures aren't worth a "fiddler's damn" (to which I'd add harrumph!). Comments on other coverage indicate audiences still aren't standing up and cheering for the good news just yet.

And that's if you think it's good news in the first place. I've worked in the private sector and I can tell you: a lot more than one out of every 10 of those people need to be fired before a real recovery can begin.