Weekly claims for unemployment benefits have been slightly increasing.  Monthly job numbers have been slightly decreasing.  Last year's total unemployed gets an additional 900k+ people in a revision.  Yet somehow President Obama "magically" receives an "encouraging" employment report.  Unemployment is now 9.7%?  Not so fast economic hacks!  Look here and tell me what you think?  Looks like Obama has been removing more and more people from the "looking for employment" roles in order to make it look like unemployment is decreasing.  That is the difference between the U-3 and U-6 numbers.  Next we will have the million Census workers get hired soon and that will "lower" the numbers further.  I fully expect the Obama "Hack" Administration to manipulate the unemployment number down as close to 9% as possible.  Perhaps even into the 8% range going in the 2010 election.  Anything to make it look like he "absorbed" the President Bush "recession" and turned things around.  The only problem with this "strategy" is that the overall unemployment rate (U-6) is near 18% and the unemployed know who they are and they vote...

Update 02/14/2010: More here on the dismal employment outlook.  Verdict?  We are screwed...