31.   The Economics Ministry warned that its new production index remains dogged by calculation problems and difficulties with seasonal adjustments.

32.   The Labor Department today released revised employment reports for the last several months to fix a seasonal adjustment quirk.

33.   Thomas Mayer, an economist at Goldman Sachs, said the April drop more likely reflects insufficient seasonal adjustments rather than real job creation.

34.   To more accurately monitor production trends, MITI uses a seasonal adjustment formula to smooth out the peaks and valleys in monthly output.

35.   But the bigger-than-expected drop might have been exaggerated by seasonal adjustment factors related to the Memorial Day holiday, analysts cautioned.

36.   Claims tend to jump up in February because of difficulties in adjusting the data for seasonal adjustments, he maintained.

37.   Clothing prices went up some four percent in an expected seasonal adjustment.

38.   He also attributed the drop to a seasonal adjustment after the market went into the New Year typically bullish.

39.   Seasonal adjustment takes account of factors such as a winter slowdown in the construction industry, which is badly affected by cold weather.

40.   Seasonal adjustment takes account of factors such as a winter slowdown in the construction industry, badly affected by cold weather.