Census Workers To Distort March Jobless Numbers

The March job numbers should come out within a week or two, but keep something in mind when you read them. What we NEED in this country is falling unemployment rates because of sustained hiring in the private sector. What we will likely get IS a decrease in the unemployment rates, but it will be caused by the temporary hiring of 600,000 census workers.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2010/03/29/prelude-media-victory-lap-santelli-warns-not-buy-hype-upcoming-jobs-data

With March unemployment data to be released April 2, some are anticipating what potentially lower jobless numbers will all mean for the financial markets and the economy as a whole. However, that data will come with the caveat that it will be misleading because it will include temporary jobs driven by hiring for the 2010 census.

On CNBC's March 29 "Squawk Box," CME floor reporter Rick Santelli was asked how to interpret the expected improvement. He warned it isn't the kind of job creation that is good for a sustained economic recovery.

I don't know if PresBo, Democrats, and the media will acknowledge the fact of newly hired census workers or not, but we need to keep them in mind. Why? Because those workers won't be around forever, and we'll likely see unemployment rates jump up again once the census workers are no longer needed.

"I think traditional media is going to overplay this," Santelli said. "I think markets like interest rates will overcompensate, but they will adjust back because I don't think anybody believes that the 200,000-300,000 pace we could see this month is going to maintain itself for many months in a row."

Joe Kernen, co-host of "Squawk Box," predicted Obama administration officials will be reluctant to acknowledge the census hiring and its impact on the upcoming unemployment data.

"You won't hear anyone mention census, either. I guarantee it," Kernen said. "Not in the administration. Not when they're taking the victory laps for 250,000."

Having those people employed short-term will help things a bit, but let's not confuse what we'll shortly see with long-term, sustained growth in the private sector.