Today at 11:30 am, Obama will speak on the unemployment rate, which ticked up to 10.2%, not a surprise and it's expected to continue to climb. (I'll post vide when it's up). GDP is up and productivity is up, which means employers are getting more out of the people who still have jobs and are holding off on hiring. Later today, at 2:35 pm, Obama will visit Walter Reed Medical Center. The visit was scheduled prior to the shootings.
Nonfarm payrolls dropped by a seasonally adjusted 190,000 in October, bringing to total number of jobs lost in the recession to 7.3 million. It was the 22nd straight decline in payrolls. Large losses were seen in manufacturing, construction and retail. Health care and temporary-help agencies added jobs. Read the full government report.On the upside:
The October jobs report shows a growing disconnect between a recovery in economic output and continued job losses. The economy grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the third quarter, with productivity rising at a 9.5% rate. MarketWatch
The report wasn't universally grim. Among the positives in the report: Payrolls were revised up by 91,000 over the previous two months. Hourly earnings increased. Average hours worked in manufacturing rose. Temp-help agencies were hiring.Unfortunately, job losses will be something that Obama will be blamed for, fairly or not. Mitch McConnell's statement:
The October employment report was "a mild disappointment," wrote Stephen Stanley, chief economist for RBS Securities. It was "not a disaster but certainly not as positive as we had expected. The bad news is that the jobs situation seems to have stalled out after improving dramatically through the summer." MW
“I know the administration shares our goals of job creation and economic growth. But more debt, more spending, higher taxes and growing the size of government clearly has not worked—particularly in a time of double-digit unemployment.A Washington Examiner article twittered by Senate republicans suggests that Obama is killing jobs.
“I hope the administration will begin to work with us to pay down the debt, reduce health care spending, and make it easier for businesses to start hiring again.”
