When is 5.6 Percent > 5.6 Percent?

Answer: When 5.6 percent measures un-employment in a Republican Administration. Tim Blair helpfully parses CNN stories over the years:

In 1996, when Clinton was President--"Economists didn't expect June's unemployment rate to be much different from May's, which was an already-low 5.6 percent. But in fact, it did fall -- to 5.3 percent. The unemployment rate hasn't been that low since June 1990."

In 2002, during the Bush Administration--"The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in February and businesses added jobs for the first time since last summer, the government said Friday, as the labor market began to recover from a downturn that led to more than a million job cuts in 2001.

The jobless rate fell from 5.6 percent in January as employers added 66,000 jobs to payrolls ..."

Notice the missing phrase: 5.6 is "already-low" only when Democrats are President.

Not convinced? Try this recent CNN story about December's 5.7 percent unemployment data--"A weak job market could prove tough for President Bush as the November election approaches." Got that? An unemployment rate of 5.6 percent is "low" for a Democrat, but 5.7 percent counts as a "weak" market for a Republican.

I guess it depends what "is" is.