Amazing! Half of states have below average unemployment

If I hadn't read it myself I would have had a hard time believing that a prestigious business newspaper like the Wall Street Journal would publish the following sentence in an article on unemployment: "The unemployment rate has fallen significantly below the national average of 9.1% in May in 25 states."

OK, Mr. Obvious. You might wonder what their next revelation would be...perhaps that it is above average in the other 25 states?

One wonders whether the writers at the WSJ know how an average is calculated. If you read the item, it becomes clear that what they should have said was five states are over-represented in U.S. unemployment figures. That tells you a lot more than saying half are below average.

Perhaps the WSJ writer lives in Lake Wobegon where all the children are above average.

Here is the original item. The comments following it are also a kick: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/06/17/jobless-rate-significantly-lower-in-25-states/