How a highly-variable point estimate becomes a headline

The media were jubilant earlier this week that an economic indicator was finally good news. “Wall Street resumes rally following housing report”, said the Associated Press. Housing starts had surged 22%, it seems. It seems less dramatic when you realize the standard error of that estimate was 13.8%, and the statistic itself is highly variable with time. Junk Charts has the details. Junk Charts: Disseminating junk

The media were jubilant earlier this week that an economic indicator was finally good news. "Wall Street resumes rally following housing report", said the Associated Press. Housing starts had surged 22%, it seems. It seems less dramatic when you realize the standard error of that estimate was 13.8%, and the statistic itself is highly variable with time. Junk Charts has the details.