Today in the NY Times it says:

The third straight weekly decline in jobless benefits raised hopes that a lengthy stretch of layoffs is coming to a close, setting the stage for businesses to finally begin rehiring laid-off workers.

President Bush, under attack by Democrats for what they say is the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover, is counting on his three rounds of tax cuts to finally start generating new jobs.

and

The unemployment rate remained at 5.6 percent last month. The overall rate remained stable only because 392,000 Americans gave up looking for work and were no longer counted in the labor market .

As we follow this saga, fully aware of the skill at picking which particular statistic to discuss already shown by Conservatives, we need to consider whether or not we want to say "rehiring laid off workers " = "creating new jobs."