I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder what kind of discussions were held putting this reports together.
Staffed with political appointees at high levels at the Commerce department, there must be constant pressure between the Career Economists and the spin doctor political appointees.
Measurement methodologies can have a huge impact on the actual reported numbers. I wonder how often they change these methods. A old trick may be to change the methodology to skew them in a favorable direction.
e.g. how they handle cancellations, are they excluding certain types of home, etc, etc.
