Assignment #1

Private Sector Improves Jobs Picture Only Moderately
1. Who did the study, survey, or experiment?
a. The Labor Department said Friday that the United States economy ended the year by adding 103,000 jobs in December, a number that missed expectations and suggested that job growth could continue to hinder a recovery.
2. Who sponsored the research?
a. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the government
3. Could the sponsor of this study have an interest in finding a particular result?
a. Yes, it looks much better on the Obama administration if there is a growth in the jobs picture.
4. Is information on methodology included?
a. Not much information is given here. The sample size is supposedly the United States labor force, but no information is given on how information was gathered. It would be possible for them to use the census to figure out the size of the labor force and look at the number of taxpayers with permanent jobs in November and December to figure out the number of created jobs.
5. Are the results communicated in a clear informative manner?
a. The results, 103,000 created jobs in December, are quite clear, but there are key details that are initially left out of the discussion. Much of the job increase was in temporary help, education, and health care, rather than manufacturing and technology. Also, it doesn’t say how many jobs were cut or how many people stopped actively looking for work, therefore removing themselves from the labor force.
6. Are graphs used in a clear informative manner?
a. Yes, it shows changes in the jobs picture, in private sector jobs, and in the unemployment rate, per month since 2008.



Article Reference
Christine Hauser, Private Sector Improves Jobs Picture Only Moderately, New York Times, 1/711, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/business/economy/08jobs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp#tab=0