Washington Post: The media is failing the public on the good news about jobs
The job market is great right now. If people think it’s the opposite, some part of the blame falls on us.
By MARGARET SULLIVAN
The unemployment rate is at an encouragingly low point. Less than 4 percent of the labor force is actively seeking work. And the latest monthly Labor Department report showed another healthy spike in the number of new jobs — they’ve been steadily on the rise for many months in a row.
But if you ask regular Americans about the jobs climate, a surprising number of them seem to think the opposite is true.
This lack of knowledge matters. Political fortunes rise and fall in part on the health of the job market. As the Clinton 1992 campaign staff kept reminding themselves when gauging how to communicate with voters: “It’s the economy, stupid.”