The Press Picks Up On the White House Jobs ‘Forecast’

From CBSMarketwatch.com:

Fuzzy Math: Bush plan would need up to 5mln jobs

Report’s call for 2.6 mln doesn’t add up

The U.S. economy would need to add between 3.6 million and 5 million jobs between now and the end of the year to meet the administration’s official job-growth forecasts, not the 2.6 million figure cited Monday by the White House.

In the Economic Report of the President released Monday, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers said employment would average 132.7 million jobs in 2004, about 2.6 million more than the 2003 monthly average. All day, the White House bandied the 2.6 million forecast without explaining just how difficult that average would be to achieve.

Likewise, we have this from CNN/Money:

White House: 3.8 million new jobs

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – The White House forecast for job growth this year is even more optimistic than it first appeared — a source says the Bush administration expects about 3.8 million new jobs in 2004, as opposed to the 2.6 million widely reported on Monday.

Is the press becoming more skeptical? Or just reading more blogs?

Kash