In fact, the U.S. economy actually lost 1.2 million jobs last month. There were 134.1 million jobs in June, and 132.9 million jobs in July. (The numbers are in this PDF.) There are huge seasonal fluctuations in employment that occur in a predictable way, year after year. Retailers staff up before Christmas, and lay people off in January. Public school districts staff up in the fall — and let people go in July, after the school year ends.
Why the massive gap between the number everybody is reporting and the actual number?
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