Tag: economy

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Graph: Job growth during Obama Administration – May 2012

Click pic for larger view

Graph showing job growth during the Obama Administration.  Statistics from Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The red bars indicate President Bush’s last months.  The blue indicates the initial job losses during Obama’s first months in office before his policies could make an impact. 

After one year of stopping the bleeding, we moved into positive territory.  We’ve actually seen over two years of positive private sector job growth.

Remember – Mitt Romney says this is the wrong direction.  So instead of job growth, is he saying he wants to go in the other direction and LOSE more jobs???

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Mitt Romney says US should be adding 500K jobs a month which has only happened 4 times in 50 years

The American economy added 115,000 jobs in April, and while that number fell well short of expectations, it represents the 26th consecutive month of private sector job growth.  Remember, when President Obama took office the country was losing 800,000 jobs a month.  While disappointing, we are at least not losing jobs today.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney appeared on Fox & Friends minutes after the release of the report to say that the economy should be growing at a much faster pace. The economy should be adding more than 500,000 jobs a month, Romney said:

ROMNEY: We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created per month. This is way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery.

Romney’s call for 500,000 jobs a month would certainly make for a faster economic recovery. I’d love to see it happen.

However, that sort of growth is hardly “normal,” as Romney claims.

There have only been 16 months since 1939 — and only four in the last 50 years — in which the economy added 500,000 jobs or more.

Read more at ThinkProgress

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CNN: Why Obama can’t match the Reagan recovery

CNN has an excellent piece up today regarding the differences between what economic pressures President Reagan had to cope with versus President Obama today.  Conservatives like to herald Reagan as a super-president, but comparing his situation at this point in his first term to President Obama’s is comparing apples to oranges. 

From CNN:

Reagan had an advantage over Obama: The recession of the early 1980s was caused by runaway inflation, which the Federal Reserve countered by hiking interest rates. When inflation dropped, the Fed lowered rates and a massive economic boom resulted.

The major causes of the recent recession were a banking crisis and housing bubble that exploded during President George W. Bush’s final months in office.

Another difference: With comparatively small debt loads, Reagan was able to push through a 23% across-the-board cut of individual income tax rates. Obama, meanwhile, entered the presidency with substantial budget deficits and an economy contracting at a rate of 6.7%.

Something that doesn’t come up in the CNN article but I think bears noting: politics in 1984 were not nearly as partisan as they are today.  Back in the 80s “compromise” was not a dirty word.  Politicians were more statesman-like and put country first.

From the beginning of the Obama administration, the GOP in DC has stated their main goal for four years was to make President Obama a one term president.  And they have done all they could to stop any progress in the US knowing that, even at the pain of the lower and middle classes, if they held progress to a minimum – while cashing their $170,000+ annual salaries – they would diminish President Obama’s chances at reelection.

Read the whole article at CNN.com

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Betsey Johnson stores to close

Popular New York fashion designer Betsey Johnson’s chain went bankrupt Thursday, and most of her 63 freestanding boutiques will close.  From the NY Daily News:

The filing will likely result in the dismissal of 350 employees and the closure of most of the brand’s 63 stores. It listed “severe liquidity problems” and $4.1 million in outstanding unsecured obligations owed to vendors, manufacturers, service providers and other creditors including jewelers, watchmakers, banks and accountants. Steve Madden, who has owned the 34-year-old brand’s intellectual property rights since 2010, said in an email that the group will continue to support the company and ensure existing orders will be produced and ship on time.

Her clothing will continue to be sold Saks and other high-end stores.

Betsey Johnson graduated from Syracuse University and spoke at my graduation.  I’ve always kept tabs on her success over the years having met her and having the S.U. connection.

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US Auto Industry – that Romney would have let go bankrupt – sees strong March sales

Chrysler sales jumped 34%

So – remember those American car companies that Mitt Romney says should have gone into bankruptcy? Those American car companies and all those American jobs? How about this:

The Big Three U.S. automakers all reported strong March sales, as buyers flocked to dealerships in numbers not seen in years to buy everything from fuel-efficient small cars to large pickups.

Chrysler reported its best month in four years, selling 163,381 cars and trucks in the month, up 34% from a year earlier, and its best results since March 2008. Sales were roughly in line with analyst forecasts for the company.

Chrysler, which four years ago had no models that got 30 miles per gallon or more on the highway, now has six models that top that fuel-efficiency benchmark. Those six models accounted for 29% of its March sales. And that’s before what is expected to be its hottest-selling fuel-efficient model, the Dodge Dart, reaches dealers in June.

President Obama backed the American worker.  And he was right.  We kept good jobs in the US and it’s helping the economy.  Plus a lot of the cars purchased were more fuel-efficient models.  Better for the environment.

See how this is all starting to add up as a good thing?

BUT – Mitt Romney says we are headed in the wrong direction.  Remember that Detroit.
(source)

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Jobs report shows 227,000 jobs created in February; Republicans say situation is not improving

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From the Republican National Committee on the February unemployment report:

“Today’s jobs report is yet another reminder that far too many Americans are out of work, and the situation is clearly not improving. Millions of families continue to feel the pain of the sluggish Obama economy and the rising cost of gas, groceries, and healthcare. They are still waiting on President Obama to keep his promise of an economic recovery,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

Now – maybe they hit “send” too quick on this one.

The jobs report today actually showed that the economy created 227,000 jobs in February.

In addition to the number of jobs created in February, the report showed an upward revision of 61,000 jobs created in December and January.

Additionally, there was a 92,000 drop in the number of people unemployed for over 27 weeks, coupled with the entrance of over 476,000 into the labor force — a sign of confidence in the economy.

Certainly we all want to see the economy improve faster but how do you say “the situation is clearly not improving” when it clearly is…?

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New Jersey: Marriage equality could pump $119 million into economy

A new study from the Williams Institute finds that New Jersey could generate as much as $119 million in just the first three years of marriage equality, including as much as $8 million in pure tax revenue.

By vetoing the legislation, Gov. Chris Christie (R) deprived his entire state of that economic benefit, but the legislature has until the end of 2013 to overturn that veto.
(source)

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Simple chart showing decline in Initial Jobless Claims

This chart tracks the four-week moving average of initial jobless claims, beginning in January of 2008, the last year of President Bush’s administration.  Note the dramatic climb during 2008.

President Obama took office January 9, 2009.  Note the decline in initial jobless claims once he took office.

While the economy isn’t booming, it’s a clear illustration that the labor market has, on President Obama’s watch, been healing.

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Economy adds 243,000 jobs in Jan; unemployment drops to 8.3%

Great news for President Obama – not so great for Mitt Romney.

The folks in the White House couldn’t have asked for a better January jobs report.

The AP: In the most impressive jump for the job market since the middle of last decade, the unemployment rate fell for the fifth-straight month after a surge of January hiring, a promising shift in the nation’s outlook for job growth. The Labor Department says employers added 243,000 jobs in January, the most in nine months. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.3% from 8.5% in December. That’s the lowest in nearly three years.

Remember, Mitt Romney’s biggest argument for being President is that President Obama “didn’t cause the recession, but he made it worse.” Check out the chart below. It shows the rise and fall of unemployment applications. The arrow shows when President Obama’s stimulus policies took affect. Now seriously, does it LOOK like President Obama’s policies “made it worse?”

In addition, the stock market is already off to its fastest start in 15 years as more investors start to believe the economic recovery is finally for real and will only get stronger. The Dow has gained 4 percent in 2012.

Some facts comparing the last GOP administration’s affect on the stock market versus President Obama:

• 60 percent: Increase in the Dow Jones Industrial average during the first three years of President Barack Obama’s term, up 4,771 points to Friday’s close of 12,720 as his fourth year begins.

• -1 percent: Decline in the Dow during President Bush’s first term from 2001 to 2005, dropping 116 points to 10,471.

• -24 percent: Decline in the Dow during President George W. Bush’s second term from 2005 to 2009, dropping 2,522 points to 7,949.

Unemployment improving, stock market improving, our military out of Iraq… And Mitt Romney says we’re heading in the WRONG direction???