The reality is, the headlines that described the jobless rate in 2004, fit perfectly with the jobs report that came out on Friday. Only 120,000 jobs were created in the month of November. Granted, the October jobs report was revised upwards by 70,000 but that is still not anywhere close to the numbers needed for nearly a half point drop in the jobless rate.

The real reason for the percentage drop was due to the number of people who gave up looking for work. Remember, the unemployment rate reflects the percentage of Americans who are actively seeking a job. When over 300,000 people give up looking for employment, that is reflected in the job numbers, hence the drop.

But the mainstream media has largely ignored this fact. Thus the headlines we see above.