<![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal, which trumpeted the productivity growth of the other day has buried the real story about unemployment, which the Bush Administration has only managed to move 0.2 percent in the right direction after three rounds of tax cuts. Here’s the page one summary of the story:
THE JOBLESS RATE FELL to an eight-month low of 5.9% in November. But employers added only 57,000 jobs, about two-thirds fewer than had been expected. Factory orders rose 2.2% in October.
At least they got to the real issue by the fourth paragraph of its story:
But the rise in payrolls was far below the 150,000 expected by economists according to consensus surveys, and it was also a sharp drop from the upward-revised increase of 137,000 in October. The economy needs to create about 150,000 jobs a month over time just to keep pace with the growing population. Significantly more is needed to produce steady declines in the unemployment rate.
Think about that, folks, we’re creating one-third the jobs needed on a monthly basis to keep up with population growth. Something about U.S. economic policy is seriously out of whack. In a word here’s what’s wrong: Bush. At this point, you cannot lay the blame for any of the failed stimulus packages at the feet of Bill Clinton or the bubble. Spending trillions on supply-side tax cuts is only going to accelerate the growth of the gulf in income between rich and middle class, while the poor are left helpless and unhelped, uneducated and unwanted. We should be investing in the American people, not the investment incentives of the richest one percent of society.]]>
One reply on “Burying the lead”
Growth? More like advancing to the rear.
Take away the military spending (both direct equipment and material needed to keep the war going, toss in the rebuilding contracts), subtract that from the alleged productivity gains and look at the numbers again. They will probably tell yet another negative growth quarter. As you mentioned the unemployement numbers tell a much better story.
Did the tax cuts really help the jobless sector? Did the tax cuts create new jobs?
Those are rhetorical questions.
The uptick in unemployment is seasonal, and January will have all those folks on the unemployment line again.
The stimulus packages are nothing more than campaign payoffs. This itself is misleading as the money that business received is being funneled right into the re-election campaign. Just like the Global Crossing mess, it is getting booked as profit on one side and being debited as expenses on the other side.
Down in the trenches in Phoenix,where cars are a way of life, here is what is happening, Bodyshops are getting less business not because of the sudden downturn in traffic acciedents, but because working folks cannot afford the 250, 500, or 1000 dollar deductibles needed to repair their cars. Mechanical repair shops are being swamped as folks are getting maintenence done as they cannot afford new cars.
Bodyshops are laying off, mechanics are not being hired as good ones are working overtime,
and the trade schools are not graduating people able to go to work in terms of being ready.
Wrecking yards are selling less parts because fewer cars are being repaired, windsheild companies are selling less glass as companies and individuals are living with cracked windsheilds.
New car dealers are offering their first born to get people in the doors, offering rebates on top of rebates, on top of trade-in allowences, and dinners.
Trucking companies are not hiring as their are no goods to move, because folks are hanging on to their money.
Stimulus my aching butt. This is corporate welfare at it’s finest.
Ya, Bush has got to go.