Analyzing the employment numbers that came out on July 5 requires a basic understanding of BS.

“BS” doesn’t mean what you are thinking.

In this case, it stands for “before seasonals,” which is an adjustment economists make to smooth out the vagaries of how economic statistics automatically move during different times of year.

But this kind of BS could turn into the other kind if people don’t pay closer attention to the government’s numbers. I’ll do that for you in this column.

And you’ll see from these “before seasonally adjusted” employment numbers why it’s so difficult to really know what the labor market in the US is doing and why it will be almost impossible for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.

In fact, you’ll see why an increase in rates is probably more likely.

The July 5 report was all good economic news — the kind that President Trump should relish, except for the fact that it will prevent the Fed from caving in to his demands for lower borrowing costs.

When the Labor Department announced the latest employment figures for June, it said — after seasonal adjustment — that there was a very strong gain of 224,000 jobs. That blew away expectations and also lowered the chance of a rate cut in the eyes of Wall Street.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress again on Wednesday, but it’s unlikely he’ll go through the numbers I’ll show you now.

When you look at the “before seasonally adjusted” data — the raw numbers — job growth last month was huge. In June, the Labor Department counted 152.307 million total jobs in the US compared with 151.600 million in May.

So, that’s a gain of 707,000 jobs over that one-month period.

Over the past 12 months, the average monthly job gain has been about 280,000 — another strong figure that isn’t going to allow the Fed to reduce interest rates, because it’s going to worry about inflation.

Here are the numbers to back that up: In July 2018, there were 148.948 million jobs in this country compared with — as I said before — 152.307 million in June.

Because what I just gave you is a 12-month period, that takes out any seasonal aberrations. It’s the purest number for job growth that you can get. And it’s what the Fed will be looking at the next time it says “no” to a rate cut.

What has the BS number been in other recent months? There were 662,000 jobs added to the economy before seasonal adjustments between April and May. And another 1.074 million new jobs before seasonal adjustment between March and April.

But here’s where it gets really tricky.

The “before seasonally adjusted” figure for July — which will come out on Aug. 2 — typically shows a big drop in jobs. Last year, in fact, that loss of jobs amounted to 1.11 million. The seasonally adjusted figure, however, will show growth.

Why are jobs lost when the leisure industry is still in full swing? My best guess is because carmakers sometimes shut down to prepare for next year’s model cars. But things have changed in the auto business and those shutdown are not guaranteed.

So the Fed, which meets again on July 30 and 31, will probably think the labor market is too hot to handle rate cuts, despite what the president might like.

Now, I’m not saying that economic numbers shouldn’t be seasonally adjusted. But someone needs to point out the raw data before seasonal adjustments really turn our economic figures into the other kind of BS.

News agencies reported last week that Cuba is the latest country to consider using cryptocurrency to skirt US sanctions.

Iran and North Korea are already believed to be doing the same — hence the “latest country” remark. And Chinese citizens are using such currencies to get wealth out of China. So, Cuba adds another reason countries like the US and China will inevitably start a crackdown.