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The original monthly numbers showed a decline of 1,882,000 for the year as a whole. Compare this with the numbers as they are currently presented, showing a decline of 2,974,000. The difference between the two is a huge 1,092,000. Moreover, the likelihood is that there are probably still some further downward *revisions to come for late 2008. And further, realize that the monthly seasonal adjustment factors are of- ten substantially revised, which can make the originally published data even more misleading. Despite these problems, notice that on some of the business TV shows, within 15 seconds of when the numbers are released, so-called economists are asked to "bloviate"on what their thoughts are about the numbers. No wonder, economists as a group have a bad reputation, and for some, it is richly deserved: Employment and Unemployment 2008-2009- --2008-- Employment(000) Labor Unemployment Hours Earnings Mfg Constr Svcs Other Total force Number Rate worked Hourly Weekly Jan - 33 - 34 - 10 + 5 - 72 153.9m 7.56m 4.91% 33.7 $17.77 $598.85 Feb - 52 - 44 -50 + 2 -144 153.5 7.42 4.83 33.8 17.83 602.65 Mar - 49 - 44 -35 + 6 -122 153.9 7.82 5.08 33.8 17.90 605.02 IQ -134 -122 - 95 +13 -338 153.8 7.60 4.94 33.7 17.83 602.17 Apr - 57 - 64 - 39 0 -160 153.9 7.68 4.99 33.8 17.94 606.37 May - 30 - 44 - 70 + 7 -137 154.5 8.54 5.52 33.7 17.99 606.26 Jun - 51 - 61 - 56 + 7 -161 154.4 8.66 5.61 33.6 18.04 606.14 2Q -138 -169 - 165 +14 -458 154.3 8.29 5.37 33.7 17.99 606.26 Jul - 51 - 31 - 53 + 7 -128 154.5 8.91 5.77 33.6 18.10 608.16 Aug - 67 - 24 - 94 +10 -175 154.8 9.55 6.17 33.7 18.18 612.67 Sep - 65 - 46 -217 + 7 -321 154.6 9.59 6.20 33.6 18.21 611.86 4„Q -183 -101 -364 +24 -624 154.6 9.35 6.05 33.6 18.16 610.90 Oct -119 - 65 -196 0 -380 154.9 10.22 6.60 33.5 18.28 612.38 Nov -121 -127 -348 - 1 -597 154.6 10.48 6.78 33.4 18.34 612.56 Dec -162 - 86 -327 - 2 -577 154.4 11.11 7.20 33.3 18.41 613.05 4Q -402 -278 -871 - 3 -1,554 154.6 10.60 6.86 33.4 18.34 612.66 Total -857 -670 -1,495 +48 -2,974 -2009- Jan -207 -111 -279 - 1 -598 153.7 11.62 7.56 33.3 18.46 614.72 In the Economic Report of the President, there is a table called "Bond Yields and Interest Rates, 1929- 2008." The following shows the major portions of that table starting with 1979. We have presented the data by comparing the yields on the 10-year Treasury (constant maturity) with yields on Aaa Corporate Bonds, Baa corporate bonds, high-grade municipal bonds (Standard & Poor index), and new home mort- gage rates. We took this approach for several reasons - many people either were not in the markets as far back as three decades and many are likely to be surprised by the rate levels and yield differentials against 10- year Treasuries; and there is nothing in this three-decade period that comes close to the current yield dif- ferential over 10-year Treasuries, especially in the latter part of 2008. Of particular notice in this regard is the huge interest rate differential between the 10-year Treasury Iltnd Baa corporate bonds and the 10-year Treasury and high-grade municipal bonds. In the latter case, ote that through much of the last three decades municipals had lower yields than Treasuries, while at present,the opposite is the story: