So begins an AP article, citing the most recent inflation report from the Department of Labor. For those of us who have been to a grocery store in the past month, the part about 'biggest jump in food prices' is no surprise. But the article goes on:
"The unchanged reading for energy reflected a big 4.8 percent jump in natural gas prices, offset by a 2 percent decline in gasoline costs."
Now that's something I didn't expect. Gasoline costs declined 2 percent in April? Really?
"Since gasoline prices normally rise significantly in April, the 5.6 percent rise in prices for the month turned into a 2 percent drop after the government adjusted for normal seasonal changes."
Oh - I get it. Prices actually rose 5.6 percent for gasoline, but it normally rises by more than that, so there really wasn't any gasoline price inflation. . . . Yeah, OK.
But, I scooted over to Seattle Gas Prices just to confirm the 5.6 percent increase, and instead found this:
Now, I read that as being an increase in average gas price from $3.28 at the beginning of April to $3.62 at the end of the month. Hmmm, my calculator says that's a 10 percent increase, not 5.6 percent.
It could be that the Bush administration is simply arithmetic-challenged. They are, after all, the people who told us that the Iraq war would cost only (!) a couple tens of billions. They are the people who complain about tax-and-spend Democrats, apparently unable to see the difference between eliminating the budget deficit (Clinton) and increasing it to record levels (Bush I, Bush II). They talk about the tax-cut-induced job creation under this administration (the worst record on job creation since the Ford administration). Statistics, and reality, are not this administration's strong suit.
But really, should the labor department really be in the business of spin? Did they think we wouldn't notice?
