socratt, it seems you are making a tempest in a teapot. Its not important that the govt lies (it does that constantly.) Its only important that they lie consistently, which is what people like econprof are getting at.
The unemployment number is a good relative fear gauge. One could argue that the birth/death and other hedonic adjustments are the govt attempting to lie, but if so that is only at the margin. Whats important isn’t the lie itself, but the consistency of its telling. Were you concerned when unemployment was at its lowest point ever pre dot com crash? 3% of the work force was still unemployed? If not why so concerned now at 7+ percent? Its the relative change that worries you I’m betting.
