Language Abuse
October 23, 2010 2 Comments
For the Miami Herald to state in its headline that employment information is “mixed” is bordering on the ridiculous.
The unemployment situation in South Florida is terrible, about the same for many weeks and showing no signs of improving. Let’s see what they say below the headline.
The federal government does make a seasonal calculation for Miami-Dade, one of the country’s largest local economies, and the report wasn’t encouraging. The federal numbers released Friday showed unemployment inching up in Miami-Dade, with the jobless rate climbing from 12.7 percent in August to 12.8 percent in September.
via South Florida unemployment figures mixed – Business Breaking News – MiamiHerald.com.
About Stephen E. McGaughey
Coral Gables Watch 
I think it’s because of the paragraph you elected not to include….
“The raw numbers released Friday hinted at recovery: Broward and Miami-Dade employers created about 7,000 jobs compared to August, and the unemployment rolls dropped in both counties. Florida said the unemployment rate dropped from 10.8 percent to 10.5 percent in Broward and from 14.5 percent to 13.1 percent in Miami-Dade — significant reductions that could signal a turnaround in hiring.”
“Raw numbers” indicates that they are not adjusted for seasonality. When so adjusted the unemployment rates look much worse. There is very little sign of hope in these numbers, I think. But one may hope that the national economy, now very sluggish, will change for the better.