Incompetence roundup

Just a few drops from the seemingly bottomless well of sloppiness and woolly thinking that seems to afflict business and economics reporting...

* This morning it was reported that US employment posted yet another strong gain in January. (Canada's employment picture improved too, by the bye).  So what was the scrolling message on one of Canada's news networks at mid-morning? "US UNEMPLOYMENT ROSE LAST MONTH".

* A few days ago there was a fairly long, prominently-placed piece in the Toronto Star business section about the weakness in the Canadian dollar.  The reporter cited recent forecasts from Morgan Stanley and HSBC, calling respectively for the loonie to fall to 60 cents and 64 cents US.  Oops! Yesterday, in a little box about the size of a postage stamp on an inside page, the Star issued a correction: actually, Morgan Stanley is forecasting a low of 71 cents; HSBC, 74 cents.

* A local TV station last week featured a report about a looming shortage of skilled construction workers.  According to the reporter, 25 percent of such workers are due to retire in the next decade.  Well, let's see. If the average construction worker enjoys a 40-year career -- which might be on the high side, considering the rigors of the trade -- then the percentage that can be expected to retire in any ten-year period is....hold on while I break out my slide rule.....25 percent! So what exactly is the story here, and why didn't the reporter question this before going on the air?

I know that the traditional media are under pressure these days from the internet and social media, and are cutting back on staff numbers as fast as they can. I also realise that mistakes of the kind I'm quoting here are not by any means confined to the business section. (Need proof? The print edition of Saturday's Toronto Star included an article on the TransAsia air disaster that said the plane had "crashed into a reverend"!)  But if  newspapers, in particular,  are going to become less and less reliable in delivering hard information, their spiral into complete oblivion can only accelerate as readers desert them in droves.