Some economists say jobless claims and other recent data show that employers likely added 200,000 to 300,000 jobs a month this year, rather than the 128,000 average reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The reason for the possible disparity: The government tends to underestimate both job gains in a recovery and job losses in a recession, the economists say. That helps explain why the nation's unemployment rate has fallen more sharply than the modest payroll increases suggest. The jobless rate was 8.9% last month, down from 9.8% in November.
"The data suggest there's been more improvement already in the employment numbers," says Jim O'Sullivan, chief economist of MF Global.
Ah, nothing more grating than a news story that starts out "Some (fill in blank) say..."