March jobs report?
Ben Bernacke mused:
…that the sharp decline in joblessness ”” the unemployment rate has dropped from a recent high of 9.1 percent in August ”” was not supported by underlying economic growth. The decline has been “somewhat out of sync” with the rather modest pace of economic growth, Bernanke said this month.
Mitt Romney blamed Obama. And Obamites sang the usual tune about the worst this and that:
…[T]oday’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression,” said Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. “It is critical that we continue to make smart investments that strengthen our economy and lay a foundation for long-term middle-class job growth so we can continue to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began at the end of 2007.
Krueger neglected to add “when Bush was president,” but you get the idea.
And meanwhile, these trends continued:
The extremely high jobless rates that African Americans and Hispanics have endured for years continued last month, with black unemployment at 14 percent and Hispanic joblessness at 10.3 percent, the government reported.
The jobs report also showed little change in the plight of workers who have been out of work for six months or more. The number of long-term unemployed was essentially unchanged at 5.3 million, and they account for 42.5 percent of the overall nation’s jobless population, the report said.
Krueger: “It is critical that we continue to make smart investments that strengthen our economy and lay a foundation for long-term middle-class job growth so we can continue to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began at the end of 2007.”
Investments? Smart investments? Whenever I hear a politician or bureaucrat use the word investment, I know I’m being conned. An investment is putting money to work in the knowledge that it will almost certainly provide a positive return or create new wealth.
Government spending falls into three categories:
1. Speculation -where they throw money at a problem and hope, with little evidence, that money will solve the problem. Examples are education, green energy, urban renewal projects, etc.
2. Redistribution of income – where they take tax money from one group and give it to another group. Examples are welfare, food stamps, Social Security disability payments, and yes, both Medicare and Social Security as now constituted, etc.
3. Expenditures on valid functions of government as defined in the constitution – Defense, Justice, Congress, and regulation of interstate commerce.
None of those categories can rightly be equated with investing. The costs of category 3. are necessary and right, but not investments.
The original intent was for the government to work for the people. That intent is very close to being turned on its head. When politicians talk about tax breaks, such as the oil depletion allowance, is really their money that they are foregoing because of evil Republicans, it doesn’t take much imagination to realize they see all the money earned by anyone as belonging to them. That way lies slavery.
The government has no money except what we agree to let them take in taxes. They create no wealth and the only jobs they create are public sector jobs that, for the most part, are a drain on the private sector. That said, goverenment can set the stage for making wealth creation easier. Or they can, as the Obama adminstration has amply demonstrated, stifle wealth creation through profligate spending and onerous regulation. The job stagnation since 2009 is evidence of that.
ABO – 2012!!
This report was more negative than first viewed. The total labor force (full time workers, part time, or looking) declined by 164,000. The total employed dropped by 31,000. That means that there was no net growth in employment.
The administration, the MSM and the left are betting that they can once again fool the public and they may very well succeed. Eventually they will run out of other peoples money and their Ponzi scheme will collapse. When it does is when they will turn to the imposition of tyranny in order to maintain their power, status and world-view.
BLS statistics are about as reliable as the Mad Hatter. Its all down the rabbit hole.
Alice, “Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is — oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!”
BLS, “Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is — oh dear! I shall never get below 8% unemployment at that rate!”
Happy Passover, by the way!
Don’t believe the polls. People are still hesitant to blame Obama, and are still hoping things turn around. But they won’t, and in the end, will vote what is best for their wallets. And I think there is still a critical mass of people whose wallets depend on private industry vs. government redistribution.
Of course, the unemployment rate went down – folks like me have just had our unemployment benefits run out so the government now considers us to no longer be “unemployed.”
The unemployment rate in Germany is under 6%. Someone should challenge Obama why they have jobs and our economy is stalled.
If people vote with their wallets then the big fat cash bribe Obama has offered with your money, should buy those votes, won’t it.
When people elect evil moral midgets like Obama and other Leftists to the highest office in the land, did anyone expect every other dog in the pack to become sane and not insanely mad?