I've been reading about NON FARM PAYROLLS, what gov't positions are excluded? Where can I get more in depth details about it? Essentially it measures the country's labor situation right? But what sectors? And GDP, how does the US gov't measure GDP?
St Louis Fed FRED sight is the best one for economic stats of any kind. For this you want http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/USPRIV?cid=32306 The navigation to get there is at the top of the page. It's worth taking some time to look around in there; it's got just about everything.
Here is a beginning for you...you'll have to go back and read the pdf. There now is NO WAY TO COMPARE the GDP prior to April of 2010 with the GDP of today!!! The BLS changed the method of calculating GDP...to make it look better!!! Ignore the first link in the post below...it is for a press release and the page was removed. The second link is to a pdf that should still exist...and explain the change in the GDP calculation... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=197676&highlight=gdp
Thanks.. What about labor markets? I've read through some of them, and they do make a general reference to gov't jobs. However, I had always though for the most part, gvot' jobs were not included in this?
Oh, they are there...don't worry ;-) IIRC: When you see news on unemployment, then go to the BLS web site. From there you will find the "press release" - go to that and within the BLS press release you will usually find a link to the "full report." Go look at the full report. That is where you will find U6 -the best unemployment indicator that the gubbmint still publishes. John Williams (shadowstats.com) usually has better numbers.
Just so that I'm not confused, are you talking about this? http://bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf In August's report for July, it talks about gov't jobs, especially the situation in Minnesota. Where exactly is this? I simply want a nice graph of a month to month, year to date change over/% along w/ some figures. Thanks for your GDP link.
No problem...I am always happy to help show how the gov't is screwing its people! Hmmm, not exactly sure where to find exactly what you are looking for...might check the St. Louis Fed...they usually have some good historical data. I would also check out John Williams sight... http://www.shadowstats.com/ After going over and getting a more recent look at shadowstats...YOU REALLY WANT TO GO CHECK OUT THAT SITE! He has a whole section on why GDP, CPI and unemployment are running contrary to what people think they should be. IIRC, Williams was former President of the San Francisco Federal Reserve...so, he is no slouch. -gastropod
then there's the 'Alternative measures of labor underutilization' notably the U-6 stats - currently 16+% unemployment: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm and don't forget 'revisions', during President Bush's last year in office the bets weren't on the release figures but the revisions of the previous release