DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: If you are regular follower of the news, you probably know that the economy has been the subject of great debate recently. Each new piece of data seems to add to the conflicting picture of just what's going on. Our Kitty Pilgrim takes a look.</s>KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What to believe? Is the economy getting weaker or stronger? Are there more jobs or fewer? Is it easier or harder to get a job? They seem simple questions to ask, with an army of statisticians to calculate from month to month. For example, the nation's unemployment rate fell from 4.5 percent to 4.4 percent in April. That would indicate more people had jobs. Yet job cuts rose in April. How does this work? Some people gave up looking for work, and when they did, they dropped off the radar.</s>JOSEPH LAVORGNA, DEUTSCH BANK SECURITIES: What I think it means is that people are probably getting a bit more discouraged about their job prospects. And when that happens, technically, they're not included in the labor force.</s>PILGRIM: Another confusion, once a year, the payroll numbers are adjusted by looking at tax forms to match the estimates that are made all year.</s>ANTHONY CHAN, BANC ONE INVESTMENT ADVISERS: Every time we see these revisions at this time of the year, financial markets get a little confused. They really focus on what is certain, what has continuity.</s>ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: There are all these factors at work and we do need to watch that carefully. But that's a one-month figure. And so, again, let's not draw any conclusions from one month. Let's see the overall trend line, which would be more important.</s>PILGRIM: One clear trend, weakness in manufacturing continues. (on camera): Manufacturers are still cutting jobs as demand drops. Unsold goods on the store shelf tell much more of a tale than any number of statistics. Kitty Pilgrim, CNN Financial News, New York.
Drop in Unemployment Adds to Economic Confusion