CNN is adding to its long list of “L’s.” It tried to get out in front of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) spinning the jobs recovery as robust before the actual jobs report dropped.
CNN published a story early Dec. 3 celebrating in its lede paragraph that “[t]he US jobs recovery has picked up steam again in the final months of the year, bringing some good news in the face of persistently rising prices and a new Covid variant.” It praised how “[e]conomists polled by Refinitiv expect another sizable jobs gain in Friday’s November employment report — 550,000 positions.” It continued its spin, albeit with a noticeable caveat: “If this is the case, it would be the biggest monthly gain since July, when more than a million jobs were added.” But then reality hit: the BLS released its report hours later showing that the economy only added 210,000 jobs, 340,000 fewer than expected. [Emphasis added.]
Even though CNN later acknowledged that “America’s labor market is still not back to its pre-pandemic strength,” it still propagandized how an economist from data firm ADP Research Institute said the recent “strong numbers” show “‘good potential for the rest of the year.’” [Emphasis added.]
CNN chose not to include an important piece of information within the 12th paragraph in its spin story. This should have been more prominent in light of later’s report on poor job conditions.
Businesses are still struggling to hire staff, as there has been little improvement in the workforce shortage. In September the United States reported 10.4 million open jobs and the highest rate of quits.
CNN tried to spin itself into a pretzel in order to suggest that the difficulty finding workers was a positive thing. “This is good news for workers who are able to ditch jobs for better prospects in terms of pay, benefits or work-life balance,” CNN claimed.
But CNN wasn’t the only one to try to spin the news. Joe Scarborough, MSNBC’s host, continued to spin the news even after BLS published its report. tweetedTo talk about the slight drop in unemployment but to not mention the large job loss:
At 4.2%, unemployment has dropped.
The unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2%
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) December 3, 2021
Conservatives under attack. Call CNN (404-827-1500) to hold them responsible for spinning the American jobs market hours before the BLS Report was dropped.
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