| Campaigns Offer Differing Spin On Unemployment Report |
| Oct-05-2012 |
| Keywords: obama, romney, unemployment, report, react |
Fresh off the heels of their debate in Denver, the presidential campaigns are sparing over a surprise drop in the nation's unemployment rate.
President Obama this morning greeted the 7.8% unemployment rate with open arms, using the news to further his assertions that the economy is improving under his watch.
This morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since I took office," Obama said at a Virginia rally Friday. "It's a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now. ... We've made too much progress to return to the policies that led to the crisis in the first place."
Republican rival Mitt Romney however is not conceding an inch to the president or his record on the economy.
"This is not what a real recovery looks like," the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement. Romney pointed to millions of people still struggling to find work, living in poverty and using food stamps to feed their families. He also said that if not for the millions of Americans who've dropped out of the labor market, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11%.
In a debate style exchange, Obama responded that Romney is spinning today's jobs report for political gain, failing to recognize that his policies are working.
"Today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points," Obama said. "It is a reminder that the country has come too far to turn back now."
However, many are suspicious of the Labor Department's unemployment report.
"This must be an anomaly," former Congressional Budget Office director Doug Holtz-Eakin said in a snap analysis of the numbers. "It is out of line with any of the other data.."
Holtz-Eakin noted the household survey is smaller, suggesting it is not as reliable. He called estimate of 873,000 new jobs "implausible."
He said the report was otherwise "solid," but reflected "the economy is merely moving sideways."
Liberal economist Dean Baker, with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, called the September rate drop "almost certainly a statistical fluke."
"It is common to have large monthly changes in the employment numbers that are not consistent with other economic data. For example, employment reportedly rose by 649,000 in November of 2007, the month before the recession began," he said in a statement. "Still, this month's numbers almost certainly indicate that the unemployment rate is moving downward, even if the speed is considerably slower than the latest data indicate."
The Labor Department, based on a broad survey of employers, said 114,000 jobs were added in September.
But the unemployment rate itself is based on a separate "household survey," which showed a whopping 873,000 new jobs in September. And while the numbers are encouraging on the surface, the underlying fact that a large percentage of the new jobs are individuals taking on part-time work or self-employment for a fraction of what many earned as full-time employees.
The unemployment rate fell from 8.1 percent in August, matching its level in January 2009 when Obama became president. There is one more monthly unemployment report before Election Day, so Friday's numbers could leave a lasting impact on Americans who are already casting ballots in states that allow early voting. |
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Posted by Lou Dobbs Staff at 8:00 PM Email to a friend |
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