Sarah Steelman (r), kind of not quite yet candidate for the open 2010 Missouri U.S. Senate seat, had this to say today via Twitter:
Wow just landed in dc counted 13 construction cranes around the capitol. No recession here – wonder why? about 2 hours ago from web
I had no idea that anecdotal counts of construction cranes were a leading economic indicator. Let’s see what the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics actually show:
…Table 3. Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and selected area, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
District of Columbia
Civilian labor force
Jan. 2008 – 330.6
Nov. 2008 – 332.6
Dec. 2008 – 332.8
Jan. 2009 – 332.3Unemployed – Number
Jan. 2008 – 19.6
Nov. 2008 – 26.6
Dec. 2008 – 27.4
Jan. 2009 – 30.8Unemployed – Percent of labor force
Jan. 2008 – 5.9
Nov. 2008 – 8.0
Dec. 2008 – 8.2
Jan. 2009 – 9.3……Missouri
Civilian labor force
Jan. 2008 – 3,017.9
Nov. 2008 – 3,014.0
Dec. 2008 – 3,017.5
Jan. 2009 – 3,008.5Unemployed – Number
Jan. 2008 – 165.0
Nov. 2008 – 204.9
Dec. 2008 – 213.0
Jan. 2009 – 241.3Unemployed – Percent of labor force
Jan. 2008 – 5.5
Nov. 2008 – 6.8
Dec. 2008 – 7.1
Jan. 2009 – 8.0…
[emphasis added]
A question for Sarah Steelman: If you think a place with 9.3% unemployment (Washington, D.C.) isn’t in a recession do you think a place with 8.0% unemployment (Missouri) isn’t in a recession, too? Just asking. After all, you’re supposed to have a degree in economics:
Sarah Steelman was born and raised in Jefferson City, Missouri. She graduated from Jefferson City High School, and then earned the degrees of B.A. in History and Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri.
She then worked as an Economist for the Missouri Department of Revenue, Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, adjunct professor of Economics at Lincoln University, Executive Director of Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Rolla, and an investment broker for AG Edwards….
[emphasis added]
Maybe she should ask Mizzou for her money back.
That republican Senate primary is going to be fun to watch. Between the two of them there isn’t enough coherent thought, if it was condensed into gasoline, to run a tiny mini bike around the inside of a generic doughnut shaped cereal product.
Nice one! I mean, back in the real world, those cranes are still up because the money was already allocated for the project, and stopping construction for an indeterminate length of time would be more harmful than simply going ahead with the project.
if Rush backed one candidate and Steele backed the other one.