“Things are clearly deteriorating.”
So says Mark Marcon, a senior research analyst at Milwaukee’s Robert W. Baird & Co. in discussing worse-than-expected economic news delivered by the Labor Department Friday. The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% in August from 5.7% in July, far exceeding forecasts of 5.8% and reaching the highest rate in nearly five years, according to the report released by the Labor Department.
Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that payroll counts, another economic indicator, dropped by 84,000 jobs last month, worse than the 75,000 forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. And the news gets better – when adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, jobs have fallen every month this year.
Additionally, manufacturing employment has declined 28 months in a row, with a drop of 61,000 jobs last month, the biggest dip in more than five years, and thus far this year, employers have cut 605,000 jobs, an average of almost 76,000 per month. Now we may not be in a recession yet, but these unemployment numbers only underscore just how stagnant our economy is. Now sure, we may not be in a full-fledged recession yet, but continued job cuts and a rising unemployment rate surely aren’t a good sign.
Now anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I’ve spent a little time discussing the state of our nation’s economy, and it’s no secret I hold President George W. Bush and his failed economic policies responsible. What’s more, we can’t expect much relief if Republican presidential nominee John McCain is elected, given McCain’s own statement regarding the economy:
“The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”
Clearly, this is not a man we need in any position that will have even the smallest impact on our nation’s economy.
Zach, please reread it almost at the bottom about the extenstion and how it affects the numbers.
I know Jeff commentd about this, what is percent figures is full employment? Something like 5-6%
Now it is bad news and 3,000 jobs lost at the Chicago Trib alone, plus all the other media markets just cutting. This is a time when higher taxes and growning government is not the cure.
Steve, here’s something you might find interesting. During the Clinton Presidency, unemployment rates went down each year he was in office. When George W. Bush took office, the unemployment rate stood at 4.2%, and now it stands at 6.1%, so we’re clearly going in the wrong direction.
And it’s worth noting that these unemployment numbers are just the latest in a series of troubling economic indicators. If you’d like, we can talk next about inflation reaching a 17 year high under George W. Bush, or perhaps you’d like to talk about the record budget deficit we’ve been left with, thanks to George W. Bush.