As a result of today's unemployment insurance claims report , the Associated Press has assured us that the economy is reaching the light at the end of the tunnel, and a growing economy is patiently awaiting

The four-week moving average of unemployment claims is down to 450,250, a 2.2% decrease from the previous week's revised average. According to the AP, this calls for a celebration because apparently economists have stated that an average of 425,000 is a sign of the Holy Grail the nation has been yearning for; a healthy labor market.

However, I don't recall economists increasing the sought after figure by approximately 30.8%. The threshold for a healthy labor market, in terms of jobless claims, has widely been reported for months as 325,000, in fact even the AP managed to report this number back in September. Now, for at least the past month, it has claimed that number has magically grown by 100,000?

What's going on here?

The AP has decided to lower the bar to "prove" that the economy is on the up, jobs are on the way. Maybe we should believe it?  Recent media reports have included the facts that last year bankruptcies were up 32%, housing sales fell by 16%--at the latest tally in November--, and on Christmas Eve, President Obama sneakily signed an executive order to remove the caps on financial capital available to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which was a sign that even a deceleration of foreclosures in the residential real estate market is nowhere near in sight.

So yes, clearly a conclusion that we're out of the woods of economic calamity is in order.

It's not difficult to see who in fact the Associated Press is associated with, and it's not the American people. This organization is not currently in business to report the news because it's too busy trying to build a narrative to help advance the president's agenda.  What do you think the over/under is that within the next month, the AP is writing stories about how great the president is because he has reformed the nation's "broken" health-care system, met the War on Terror head-on with sweeping changes to the nation's intelligence community, and repaired the economy by increasing employment?

What we're talking about here sounds like a magic show

Hey, who doesn't like a good magic show

Rabbits pulled out of hats, people sawed in half, objects appearing out of nowhere and disappearing into thin air. It's all good fun, right? Yes, but the American people don't want the magic shows being performed by liberal politicians and their cohorts in the established media.

Unfortunately, because of their antics we've reached the point that we're unsure of who and what we can trust. Going forward, it will be easier to point out who and what we can't. Listing the perpetrators in alphabetical order, we can start with the Associated Press.

 
J.C. Arenas is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and welcomes your comments at jcarenas.com