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Show Keeping Political Facts Straight Government statistics on the state of the economy are often buried or misinterpreted by Administration spokesmen when they are released to the public. In a campaign year such as this it is desirable that brief summary statements of the latest available government data be readily available for the people so that they may know the truth. The Research Division of the Democratic Party is issuing periodically a "Survey of the Economic Situation" summarizing pertinent data from official government sources and from such private sources as are considered authoritative. These brief summaries also point up the significance of the data by way of making comparisons with figures of a year ago andor with the situation with the Truman administration. (Continued on Page 2) Keeping Political Facts Straight (Continued from Page 1) National party officials are to be commended for providing this service. Many times in the past The Salt Lake Times, through its news and editorial columns, has passed this information along to its readers. An example of the service is the following: Unemployment On the last day of April, 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower Eisen-hower stated at his press conference that: "I do believe there is a very continued and emphatic evidence evi-dence that the decline is flattening out, and that is, it seems to me, the implication of (the April unemployment figures." (New York Times, May 1, 1958). With 5,120,000 persons unemployed, there is, unfortunately no basis for the president's optimism. The New York Times editorialized: "The administration's policy of attacking the steadily lengthening business recession by the device of wishful thinking seems to have moved into the desperation stage this week. (May 2, 1958). The Times' reference was to "the extraordinary action by the Department of Commerce in rushing into print nearly a fortnight ahead of schedule with a partial "preview" of the "microscopic" decline in unemployment of 78,000. The Commerce Department cited an employment upturn of 596,000 jobs. However, 480,000 were in the agricultural field, just about the usual seasonal gain in farm labor. Said the Washington Post on April 30, 1958: "What the Commerce Department and the president failed to emphasize is that the percent of the labor force unemployed went UP from March to April from 7 to 7.5 per cent. An analysis of the usual seasonal decrease in unemployment at the time of the year is more in point in appraising the job situation." From the above example it seems obvious that the need for such service as is being rendered by the Research Division is great and greatly appreciated too. |