Is the US job market weak? It’s all about how you slice the data.

Is the U.S. job market dismal as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says?

Or is it steadily improving as President Barack Obama contends?

Not to dodge the question or anything, but both men are correct. It’s all about how you slice the data.

Romney and his Republican allies like to point to the unemployment rate. It’s stuck at 8.3 percent, compared with 7.8 percent when Obama took office. Most economists say “normal” unemployment is 6 percent or less.

Obama naturally prefers to stress the more than 4 million jobs the economy has added in the past 2½ years.

Neither figure fully illustrates the state of the job market — the pivotal issue for many voters in the final stretch of the election season. You have to consider other numbers, too.

What about the number of people who’ve given up looking for work and so aren’t counted as unemployed?

Or the pace of layoffs?

What about the level of job openings advertised?…

via How weak is the US job market? That all depends on what numbers you want to look at – The Washington Post.

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