President Obama’s economic czar Alan Krueger is desperately arguing today’s 8.3% unemployment rate is 8.254% not 8.3%....
The household survey showed that the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3% in July (or, more precisely, the rate rose from 8.217% in June to 8.254% in July).
As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available.
So, at the same time the White House is arguing people shouldn’t read into one monthly report, they’re making sure people know exactly, to the 1/1000th of a percent, what the unemployment rate is. Not to mention, by saying "as the Administration stresses every month," that unemployment figures "can be volatile," they're essentially saying, "just ignore every unemployment report we've had since President Obama took office."