Friday, May 2, 2008

Up to the Minute Facts or Conflicting Facts by the Minute?

I was sitting in my local McDonald's this morning reading and sipping coffee when I looked up to see a CNN report: the government was reporting the unemployment rate rose from 5.1% to 5.25% and the economy lost 70,000 jobs. These were all worse than economists predicted, they informed us. I filed that and went back to my coffee and I Don't Believe in Atheists.

Just minutes later, I looked up to see "THIS JUST IN": the government reports unemployment dropped from 5.1% to 5% and the economy lost 20,000 jobs-- all better than economists predicted.

What was that? What was/is the truth? If the numbers in the second report are correct, where did the first numbers come from?