DNC Chair: Unemployment hasn't gone up under Obama

Oh boy. Anytime Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz opens her mouth, brace yourself for something stupid to come out. But honestly I didn't expect her to say something as dumb as what she said today.

Today on Gretchen Carlson's show on Fox News this morning, Wassmerman Schultz said that the unemployment has gone down under Obama.

Huh? Either Wasserman Schultz is being a spin doctor or she really has her head shoved in the sand. My guess is that it's both. These facts most have eluded her: (via Ed Morrisey from HotAir)

• Jobless rate in January 2009: 7.8%.  Jobless rate in November 2011: 8.6%.
• Number of employed in January 2009, in thousands: 133,563.  In November 2011: 131,708
• Civilian participation rate in January 2009: 65.7%.  In November 2011: 64.0%
• Unemployment level in January 2009, in thousands: 11,984.  In November 2011: 13,303
• Number of people not in labor force, January 2009, in thousands: 80,554.  In November 2011: 86,558

Also Wasserman Schultz keeps talking about how the unemployment rate lately has been going down. Looks like she too is contributing to the spin that's being put on this number. The unemployment rate has been decreasing, but not because of economic growth. It's decreasing because there are more and more people leaving the workforce, which is taken out of the denominator of the fraction that determines the unemployment rate.

The most recent example of this is when the unemployment rate was recently lowered from 9.0% to 8.6%. As Bloomberg reports, while there were job gains, there was a net loss since 315,000 people left the workforce.

If the White House tries to promote some impressive number, then be skeptical, because the numbers are always spun somehow.