White House welcomes strong jobs data in potentially rule-violating tweets

[rooster59]

White House welcomes strong jobs data in potentially rule-violating tweets

 

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A series of tweets by White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Friday commenting on strong February job creation figures may have run afoul of federal guidance barring most officials from commenting on key economic data within an hour of its release.

The rule, Statistical Policy Directive Number 3, is meant to "preserve the distinction between the policy-neutral release of data by statistical agencies and their interpretation by policy officials," the White House budget office explained when it published the most recent version in September 1985.

Jason Furman, who led President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, noted on Twitter that the rule had been in place for decades: "Everyone has followed it. Until now."

Asked about the tweets at a White House news briefing, Spicer said the posts simply repeated public information and did not provide any analysis that could have disrupted markets.

"We're excited to see so many Americans back to work," he said. "So, I apologise if we were a little excited."

Erica Groshen, who led the Labor Department's statistical arm for four years under Obama, in her own comment on Twitter called the directive a "best practice" separating non-partisan number crunchers from officials with a more-political bent.

In its monthly report on U.S. employment, released at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), the Labor Department said nonfarm employers added 235,000 workers to their payrolls, with the unemployment rate dropping a tenth of a percentage point to 4.7 percent.

The monthly jobs data sets the tone for financial markets worldwide, and the robust pace of employment growth in February was seen as giving the Federal Reserve a green light to raise interest rates next week.

Twenty-four minutes after the data was released, Spicer tweeted, "Great news for American workers: economy added 235,000 new jobs, unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump."

Minutes later, he offered a fresh post: "Not a bad way to start day 50 of this Administration."

Spicer was not alone.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, in his own tweet at 9:02 a.m. (1402 GMT), appeared to hand the credit for the job growth to President Donald Trump: "@POTUS Trump delivers in first #JobsReport. 235,000 new jobs and unemployment rate down to 4.7%. Great news for American workers!"

Vice President Mike Pence also got into the act.

Trump, who is not shy when it comes to using Twitter, had paved the way, retweeting a post from the Drudge Report that said simply, "GREAT AGAIN: +235,000."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-11

 

[whatawonderfulday]

rules ? what rules ? What do you mean there are rule we should follow ? I thought now that we are controlling America we can make them up as we go along

[whatawonderfulday]

rules ? what rules ? What do you mean there are rule we should follow ? I thought now that we are controlling America we can make them up as we go along

[craigt3365]

Quote

Asked about the tweets at a White House news briefing, Spicer said the posts simply repeated public information and did not provide any analysis that could have disrupted markets.

Again, an administration official ignoring the fact they broke a law.  Hopefully, they'll get whacked for one of these infractions.

[darksidedog]

21 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Again, an administration official ignoring the fact they broke a law.  Hopefully, they'll get whacked for one of these infractions.

To my mind, he did not just simply repeat public information. His tweet suggested it was a  result of work by Trump, " unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump."

The reality is there has been a downward trend for some time and 50 days is way too short for any policy to have taken this sort of effect.

[craigt3365]

8 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

To my mind, he did not just simply repeat public information. His tweet suggested it was a  result of work by Trump, " unemployment rate drops to 4.7% in first report for @POTUS Trump."

The reality is there has been a downward trend for some time and 50 days is way too short for any policy to have taken this sort of effect.

100% correct.  The law is there to prevent the data being used for political purposes.  This tweet is a clear violation of that.  This administration thinks they are above the law.

 

They can take credit for stuff like this next year.  Until then, it's the result of the past administration...and the economy BEFORE they took office.

[edwinchester]

For the last 2 years Trump has been saying the positive US job figures released have been fake to present a rosy picture of the Obama administration. Now suddenly they are trustworthy!

[darksidedog]

23 minutes ago, edwinchester said:

For the last 2 years Trump has been saying the positive US job figures released have been fake to present a rosy picture of the Obama administration. Now suddenly they are trustworthy!

Sean Spicer can't really have a brain can he? The statistics " may have been phony in the past, but they aren’t now.”

How are we to be sure this isn't more of the fake news the statistics from before were supposed to be? He is either a hypocrite or an idiot, but probably both.

[impulse]

The last time the rule (guideline?) was revisited seems to have been in 1985, when we had to wait for the 6:00 PM news to hear the latest.  

 

In the era of the interweb and immediate information gratification and overload, it seems the only real beneficiaries of the rule are the Wall Streeters, who have an extra hour head start on the rest of us who work for a living to trade on the information.  Since they can trade in microseconds, that hour probably puts $$ billions into the pockets of the 1% every month.  Taken out of the pockets of the working stiffs.

 

Though I agree they should revisit the guideline rather than just disregard it, I salute their acknowledgement that the rules aren't keeping up with technology.

[craigt3365]

12 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Though I agree they should revisit the guideline rather than just disregard it, I salute their acknowledgement that the rules aren't keeping up with technology.

Perhaps.  But they are still rules and should be obeyed.  If you don't like the rule, then change it.  Don't break it.  This person is in charge of creating and upholding the laws of the US.  Not violating them.

[impulse]

1 minute ago, craigt3365 said:

Perhaps.  But they are still rules and should be obeyed.  If you don't like the rule, then change it.  Don't break it.  This person is in charge of creating and upholding the laws of the US.  Not violating them.

 

You're right, of course, but a good first step in changing the rules is for someone in power to break one and force it through the process of checks and balances.  A rule that favors the Wall Streeters isn't going to change on any initiative from those who are feeding at the trough.

 

Just for grins, have a look at the change in the value of the equities in the various markets that follows announcements like the jobless figures (and orange juice production for anyone who saw "Trading Places")  I'd bet $$ tens of billions changed hands, and $$ billions went one way or the other on that announcement.

 

 

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You're right, of course, but a good first step in changing the rules is for someone in power to break one and force it through the process of checks and balances.  A rule that favors the Wall Streeters isn't going to change on any initiative from those who are feeding at the trough.

 

Just for grins, have a look at the change in the value of the equities in the various markets that follows announcements like the jobless figures (and orange juice production for anyone who saw "Trading Places")  I'd bet $$ tens of billions changed hands, and $$ billions went one way or the other on that announcement.

 

 

Sorry.  I don't agree.  A good first step is for a person in power to change the rule.  Somebody like Trump could get it done.  That way, no rules are broken.  They've broken far too many so far.  Time to start obeying rules rather than breaking them.

 

But honestly, what's wrong with the rule?  It was broken for political purposes.  Something Trump said he was against during the campaign.  Hypocrite.  Drain the swamp.  Right....

[jerojero]

Of course Trump takes credit for the good employment news. He's Americas smartest businessman, he said so! Watch him scurry like a rat, blame others, when poor economic news comes his way.

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, jerojero said:

Of course Trump takes credit for the good employment news. He's Americas smartest businessman, he said so! Watch him scurry like a rat, blame others, when poor economic news comes his way.

He's already said he'll blame the democrats if the repeal of the ACA doesn't go through! LOL  He's the president.  It's always going to be his fault.  Just like he use to blame Obama for everything!

[elgordo38]

If you do some fact checking you will find the job numbers for February to be about equal to he ones shown for February 2015 and 2016 nothing new here. His own people have stated that he is not responsible for the "great" job numbers. One fly in the ointment was the small increase in wages for workers working. The Draghi piggy backs on this news and states that things in Europe are showing "green shots" This is laughable and the stock market did not roar off into new territory. I think investors are starting to realize that they are being played by all this Trump talk. Sometimes I think they are doing this to flog their own stock portfolio. To believe all is in a blind trust is being naive. 

[elgordo38]

If a tweeter tweets all night does he take a tweet nap in the daytime hours??

[Thakkar]

6 hours ago, impulse said:

In the era of the interweb and immediate information gratification and overload, it seems the only real beneficiaries of the rule are the Wall Streeters, who have an extra hour head start on the rest of us who work for a living to trade on the information.  Since they can trade in microseconds, that hour probably puts $$ billions into the pockets of the 1% every month.  Taken out of the pockets of the working stiffs.

Not quite. The news was released publicly. It's not just Wall St that had access to it. Conscientious investors, day traders and anyone to whom it would have mattered and who paid attention would have had the same data at the same time.

 

The Spicer/ Preibus tweets were a comment on the data by implying that Trump should be given credit. That kind of commenting is against the rules, not just because comments could move markets (in this case they wouldn't have) but it risks giving the impression that the statistics office that is independent is coordinating with the administration.

 

T

[darksidedog]

5 hours ago, jerojero said:

Of course Trump takes credit for the good employment news. He's Americas smartest businessman, he said so! Watch him scurry like a rat, blame others, when poor economic news comes his way.

What poor economic news? We will be back to all fake again by then.

[Thakkar]

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

"@POTUS Trump delivers in first #JobsReport. 235,000 new jobs and unemployment rate down to 4.7%. Great news for American workers!"

Impresssive. All this without: tax cuts, Obamacare repeal, Mexican wall, new budget  enactment, any trade deals, any import bans or new import duties, etc.

 

Apparantly all the desasterous Obama economy needed was an infusion of hot air!

 

T

[joecoolfrog]

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Sean Spicer can't really have a brain can he? The statistics " may have been phony in the past, but they aren’t now.”

How are we to be sure this isn't more of the fake news the statistics from before were supposed to be? He is either a hypocrite or an idiot, but probably both.

To be more accurate , he and the rest of the administration are condident that their fan base is both idiotic and hypocritical.

[Andaman Al]

17 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

To be more accurate , he and the rest of the administration are condident that their fan base is both idiotic and hypocritical.

I think the Trump administration are RELYING on their fanbase being both idiotic and hypocritical.

[impulse]

14 hours ago, Thakkar said:

Not quite. The news was released publicly. It's not just Wall St that had access to it. Conscientious investors, day traders and anyone to whom it would have mattered and who paid attention would have had the same data at the same time.

 

The Spicer/ Preibus tweets were a comment on the data by implying that Trump should be given credit. That kind of commenting is against the rules, not just because comments could move markets (in this case they wouldn't have) but it risks giving the impression that the statistics office that is independent is coordinating with the administration.

 

A few comments- first, the guideline predates instantaneous news by decades- it's obsolete.  30 years ago, when it was last revisited maybe not so much.  But an hour in today's news cycle is about the equivalent of a week in 1985 when the news only came on 3 times a day, and print news was always a day late.

 

Second- does anyone really believe that the agencies telling us it's raining while our politicians are pissing on us are really independent of the politics of their announcements and their effects on the very people who decide how much funding they get?    Especially when it comes to jobs figures and how they decide who counts as unemployed and who has just given up even trying.   They're independent like PACs are independent.

 

[craigt3365]

18 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

A few comments- first, the guideline predates instantaneous news by decades- it's obsolete.  30 years ago, when it was last revisited maybe not so much.  But an hour in today's news cycle is about the equivalent of a week in 1985 when the news only came on 3 times a day, and print news was always a day late.

 

Second- does anyone really believe that the agencies telling us it's raining while our politicians are pissing on us are really independent of the politics of their announcements and their effects on the very people who decide how much funding they get?    Especially when it comes to jobs figures and how they decide who counts as unemployed and who has just given up even trying.   They're independent like PACs are independent.

 

As for your second comment, yes.  Many people in the government are not that political.  They are career government workers.  My father was one.  He did his job.  For the betterment of the country. 

 

The jobs stats have been done the same way for years.  They are a very good stat, but not perfect.  You're being too cynical.

[mtls2005]

I think these job stats are issued by the Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor, obviously appointed by President Trump, is Elaine Chao, and an experienced government employee and an immigrant from Taiwan. She is married to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.) Tenn.

 

Sean Spicer's attempt at humor re: the "reality" of these figures was actually quite alarming.

 

 

[craigt3365]

7 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

I think these job stats are issued by the Department of Labor. The Secretary of Labor, obviously appointed by President Trump, is Elaine Chao, and an experienced government employee and an immigrant from Taiwan. She is married to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R.) Tenn.

 

Sean Spicer's attempt at humor re: the "reality" of these figures was actually quite alarming.

These stats are the same regardless of the administration.  Many complain that they don't reflect those who've given up trying to find a job, when in reality, they do.  There are a number of stats.  One of them deals with this.  Those saying they don't are just trolling.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics

Quote

To avoid the appearance of partiality, the dates of major data releases are scheduled more than a year in advance, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget.^[6]

 

There are many different rates that are put out.  Are they perfect?  No.  But it's what we've got and they are a good indication over time of how the economy is doing.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/03/charts-whats-the-real-unemployment-rate.html

[DM07]

SNL must be over the moon! Jokes write themselves, nowadays, with this clowncar of a presedency!


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[mrwebb8825]

On 3/11/2017 at 10:30 AM, craigt3365 said:

Perhaps.  But they are still rules and should be obeyed.  If you don't like the rule, then change it.  Don't break it.  This person is in charge of creating and upholding the laws of the US.  Not violating them.

I just want to thank you for clearing my total misconception that it was Congress and the Senate that make laws and the DOJ/Supreme Court that upholds them. Must be cool to be the White Press Secretary wielding so much power all by himself. 

[craigt3365]

20 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

I just want to thank you for clearing my total misconception that it was Congress and the Senate that make laws and the DOJ/Supreme Court that upholds them. Must be cool to be the White Press Secretary wielding so much power all by himself. 

From the OP:

Quote

Trump, who is not shy when it comes to using Twitter, had paved the way, retweeting a post from the Drudge Report that said simply, "GREAT AGAIN: +235,000."

I do believe all the organizations you mentioned report to him.  Except the supreme court.