Cuts in Government Led U.S. Economy to Lose 95,000 Jobs
Yes the economy shed 95,000 jobs, according to the government's tracking numbers. The private sector added 64,000 jobs (which I am sure the Obama Administration will emphasize) but the government (federal and local) shed 159,000.
I really have no patience for hearing the president or his proxies tout the private sector adding jobs, then Obama saying "But its not good enough." No shit its not good enough.
The article notes that:
A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people who are working part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs and people who have given up looking for work, rose to 17.1 percent from 16.7 percent in August.
So that is the real unemployment rate, which measures people who are unemployed; not people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. We are basically at depression era levels of unemployment and I really think figures like this shed light on the strength of the Tea Party movement. People are furious, they are broke, they are losing their homes; and it really seems like the Administration only half-cares. People are mad because when the financial system was collapsing the government (Bush and Obama) treated it like it was a massive emergency calling for unprecedented action. But high, persistent unemployment and sluggish "growth" calls for...patience?
It calls for massive urgency. TARP was passed to avoid a kind of "worst case scenario" for the country. But if you have lost your job, your unemployment has run out, you are worried about feeding your family and your house is about to be foreclosed upon; that is a WORST CASE SCENARIO.
What we need is a massive stimulus package, as any economist with their head on will tell you (Krugman, Baker, Stiglitz, DeLong). I know the Congress wont pass it, but it would be nice to see the President (and his party) fight for it; even if they lose. That would be something that the base could rally around.
No comments:
Post a Comment