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November 7, 2009 in Nation/World
Jobless rate puts heat on Obama
Critics call for faster, bolder initiatives
WASHINGTON – The jump in the unemployment rate to 10.2 percent, reported Friday, suggests that the job market could take longer than expected to recover and deepens the pressure on President Barack Obama to come up with more immediate solutions.
The jobless rate crossed into double digits last month, from 9.8 percent in September, the Labor Department reported. That is the highest level since 1983 and evidence that the economy, though expanding, has not yet grown enough to end the brutal conditions facing American workers.
A broader measure of joblessness that includes people working part time for lack of full-time positions and those who have given up looking for work out of frustration rose to 17.5 percent from 17 percent.
Economists have been projecting that job growth would resume early in 2010, and the unemployment rate would start coming down by the middle of the year. But that forecast is in doubt because job losses in the last few months are only decelerating very slowly. Typically after a recession, the jobless rate keeps increasing for a few months, but at a more gradual rate. That tapering off hasn’t happened yet.
“This is the worst labor market most of us have ever seen,” said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo.
Even the good news in the report wasn’t all that good: Employers slashed 190,000 jobs in the month, the sort of cuts found in a run-of-the-mill recession. That figure seems encouraging only when compared to job losses that ran at several times that rate earlier in the year.
The weak numbers confront the Obama administration with a difficult situation. The economy grew at a 3.5 percent rate in the third quarter, as measured by gross domestic product, and the president and his advisers have presented this as evidence that their policies to arrest the downturn are working.
But 15.7 million Americans were unemployed last month. And in mid-October, a majority of adults viewed Obama’s policies as either making the economy either worse (22 percent) or having no effect (35 percent), according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The administration is pursuing policies that, while less ambitious than the $787 billion stimulus package passed in February, provide targeted help for the economy. On Friday, Obama signed legislation that extends unemployment insurance benefits for up to 20 weeks more and renews an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers while expanding eligibility.
But rather than offering a short-term fix for joblessness, the White House is now more focused on a longer-term strategy for fueling the economic recovery. Speaking in the Rose Garden on Friday, Obama said his economic advisers are weighing additional measures to create jobs, including new infrastructure spending, renovations to make buildings more energy efficient, and additional support for U.S. exports.
Private economists said those initiatives are likely to have little immediate effect. “The impact will be pretty minimal,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “They are good things to do. We should be spending more money weatherizing. It will employ some people.”
Critics, especially on the left, are calling on the president to move faster and take initiatives that pay off sooner.
“Every day, it becomes more urgent that the federal government step up to the plate with bold actions to boost job creation,” said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. “Those actions should include urgently needed fiscal relief to state and local governments, community jobs programs, additional investments in infrastructure and green jobs and credit relief to small and medium-sized businesses.”
Obama honors Medal of Freedom recipients as heroes 
SugarShane on November 07 at 2:09 a.m.
How about creating jobs in some other fashion then killing soldiers off in Iraq and Afghanistan? Maybe if we didn’t spend 70 million a day funding Bush’s war we wouldn’t be in this mess. Its going to get much worse before it ever gets better, mark my words.
craigclower07 on November 07 at 2:30 a.m.
Lot of jobs in medical coding find a school to get your degree in few months more info at http://bit.ly/14YX8y
Rifleman__Dodd on November 07 at 5:32 a.m.
Well at least its “change”.
gotcha on November 07 at 7:28 a.m.
The present administration has got a handle on it… Air up the tires and throw money at it… Change we can all believe in…Oh yeah and make sure you belong to a union to catch the money.
Uptight_Spokanite on November 07 at 8:24 a.m.
I’d ask if a jobless recovery is similar to a sexless marriage, but since 98.5% of male online newspaper forum commentators haven’t actually had sex with another person for an average of 13.9 years, it might be too much of a a metaphorical stretch.
Uptight_Spokanite
(1.5 percenter)
Dazzeetrader11 on November 07 at 10:41 a.m.
1.It’s Obama’s war now Shane. He’s making the decisions. Remember when he said he you just up and leave within 1 year-18 months? Where is the departure mentioned anymore/ Is that the “change” we can believe in?
2. It’s Obama’s economy now too. It wasn’t great with Bush but Obama’s choices have made thing so much worse. Ever hear of a severe recession or depression cured in the face of record high unemployment rates? Jobless recovery is impossible without the government using our money to fuel the economy. Chasing our tails much? Creating so-called green jobs in an industry that doesn’t exist and is unaffordable presently? Ahem Mr President…. how will this work?
3.The only thing that ever has worked is to somehow give low interest rates and other support to industry. Why did Boeing leave and take several thousands of jobs elsewhere? What would make them leave this wonderful St of Washington? Lack of incentives, union interruption of work, union demands and ever growing taxes sound like they might be enough to rid Wa St of Boeing? “Yes” and it worked!
When every job producing industry is harrassed, they go elsewhere……….another St or another country. And with them go the jobs. Jobs to support an already failing economy. Parenthetically, this why a jobless recovery is mythical. Taxing rich corps and wealthy folks (ie Obama’s class warfare) might sound good and get votes for a politician but it swells the ranks of the unemployed and it hurts us all. Somethng to think about on a rainy Saturday where I am.
SugarShane on November 07 at 2:19 p.m.
Im sorry but I still have to call it Bush’s war. The hijackers on 9-11 were mostly Saudi’s and there was no real evidence of WMD’s so off to Iraq we go to settle the score from operation desert storm. There was no call to invade and occupy Iraq and our service men and women are the ones paying the heaviest toll. Now were stuck fighting an unwinable war on two fronts because there are no clearly defined benchmarks of success. America has become the laughing stock of the free world. We will be in the middle east forever now, throwing out billions of dollars on “national defense” which has in effect become a “national offense”. That money does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people, and the people have said end this conflict. Let the Afghans and Iraqies go back to killing each other instead of Americans, they’ve been at it for thousands of years. Our country is going bankrupt all for the sake of BUSH’S war.
Dazzeetrader11 on November 07 at 2:39 p.m.
Sorry Shane…Obama’s promise was to leave. He hasn’t performed. It’s all Obama now. Parenthetically, what HAS he delivered on? Lots of nice talk about change but not much yet. No…it’s all Obama now. He has expanded the Afghan front and nothing new in Iraq…no change. He’s a “show horse” not a “work” horse.