Jobs grow steadily in June

[robcon]

Source: LA Times

WASHINGTON — The government's report Friday that the economy added 132,000 jobs in June showed steady if not spectacular growth, but economists said it was unlikely to elicit a shift in interest rates.

The Labor Department's job figures were slightly above private economists' forecast of 125,000 and were enough to keep up with growth in the workforce and hold the unemployment rate steady at 4.5%. The department also revised upward the number of jobs added in April and May by 75,000.

June's gains were narrowly based in the service sector, particularly government, education, health and leisure. While state and local governments generated nearly a third of new jobs, manufacturing jobs declined for the 12th straight month, and retail, trade, and professional and business services also slipped.

Private economists predicted no shifts in economic policy by either the Bush administration or the Federal Reserve Board as a result of Friday's data. In particular, they saw no reason for the Fed to abandon its year-old policy of leaving the federal funds interest rate — the rate that banks pay each other for overnight loans — unchanged at 5.25%.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-jobs7jul07,0,6113147.story?coll=la-tot-business&track=ntothtml

[Le Taz Hot]

1. 132,000 jobs added?

In what country?

[merwin]

4. I don't believe it counts the number of people who lost their jobs

or had their hours cut to under 20 hours a week, so they can be considered "part time" by their employer. (allowing them to hire a second person for the remaining 20 hours). I could be wrong though.

[conspirator]

13. There is nothing wrong with having part-time positions or job sharing

as long as the hourly rate is decent. A lot a people need flexibility.

[defendandprotect]

14. If you want flexibility, give everyone a five hour day --

Part time jobs have no security, no benefits -- usually.

If you want flexibility and full employment, let's move to a five hour day.

Everyone would be employed.

Labor has been subjugated to corporate power/elite profits.

Capital has now broken its barriers with the dismantling of the Brettonwoods Agreements --

While capital flies off -- labor cannot.


PS: When I heard the labor report -- and I wasn't sure that it was really good news because there is so much Bush-like tampering with records . . .

but I was wondering if coming into a new election period they might be working to improve employment????

[dysfunctional press]

63. a lot of people are kept part-time to deny them benefits.

another reason we need single-payer universal healthcare.

[hack89]

6. The company I work for has been steadly growing

by 10 percent a year - these are good, well paying computer developer jobs with excellent benefits. It would be interesting to compare the unemployment rate of college grads versus non-college grads. I think the economy is splitting in two and education is the decider as what your prospects are. Certainly all my friends are well educatedprofessionals (mainly engineers) and the past five years has been very good to them.

I live in Rhode Island, btw.

[Le Taz Hot]

8. Well, I live in Central CAlifornia

and the unemployment rate is double-digit and what jobs you can find are in the service sector and because so many Silicon Valley computer gurus are out of work there are very few IT jobs available and what are available are going at about $18.00 an hour. My husband with TWO college degrees and vast amounts of knowledge and experience took 14 months to find one of these. He FINALLY found another job last week that pays what he was making 5 years ago but it took over 2 years. Imagine 1 open position and 500 people applying for it. That is NOT unusual in this area.

Please understand, just because the employment picture is sunny where you are, there are other parts of the country not doing so well -- regardless of education.

[hack89]

15. I just get tired of the black and white analysis

on this board. There are many parts of the country and many professions that are thriving. The fact is, for my family and the vast majority of my friends, the past 5 years have been times of prosperity - we are all better off now then we were before. There are a large number of Americans that are doing well in this economy but you would never get that idea by reading the posts here.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. You fail to recognize the seriousness of doing well.

There are a large number of Americans that are doing well in this economy but you would never get that idea by reading the posts here.

Of course not. Admitting some are doing well means you are ignoring those that aren't. Don't you see? If some are not doing well, you are not allowed to suggest you are or that things are not in the dumpster.:sarcasm: <-- I wouldn't have thought i needed that but just in case)

You must also agree with the other mantra prevalent on this board, ie: "The government skews every single economic report, regardless of the source, to make everything look better than it actually is in order to screw the common man"

Your experience that all of your friends are doing well is counterbalanced by someone else's knowledge that 4 of theirs are struggling.

[Le Taz Hot]

22. Well, congratulations on doing well in the Bush years.

And I'm so glad you're doing better under the Bush regime than in the Clinton years. That's not the case with most people.

[hack89]

25. Just pointing out that there are shades of grey

and I disagree that most people are worst off. I did equally well in the Clinton years.

[AllieB]

26. Well, manufacturing jobs in the greater Providence area are gone

Places like Cranston, Warwick, Pawtucket, Central Falls, New Bedford and Fall River have double-digit unemployment rates. I'm in high tech also (in finance), and many of my colleagues have had a rough time of it since 2001. We're talking major downsizing-and these are people with college degrees.

The only sector that's growing in New England is biotech. Much of the venture capital and investment that fueled technology companies has been redirected into biotech. Small and medium-sized businesses are struggling in the tech sector, making them ripe for acquisition. The economic policies of the Bush administration have helped multinational corporations and stifled entreprenuership. I know-I went from working for a small startup to working for a huge foreign company.

[hack89]

27. Bush had nothing to do with the loss of manufacturing jobs

in Rhode Island - it is hard to imagine a less business friendly state then Rhode Island. The exodus started a long time a go.

[AllieB]

28. No that was NAFTA and competition with China.

How about addressing my other point? Investment in small business has declined. Most New England states are very business friendly.

[hack89]

30. Aquidneck Island is becoming a world class center

for boat and yacht building and repair one small business at a time. KVH in Middletown is a small business superstar. Mass and Conn are much more business friendly then RI - lower taxes, less regulation and less corrupt government. The fact that small businesses are flourishing despite our state government tells me that if you are smart and understand where you fit into a global economy, you will do well. It is ridiculous to imagine that a unionized, welfare state like RI could ever be competitive in the mass manufacturing of commodities.

[AllieB]

31. Unionized, welfare state, huh?

Well, there's no question now which side of the aisle you fall on. What's wrong with unions? If it weren't for unions in the history of our country, there would be no middle class. What's your opinion of unions?

As for a welfare state, maybe if RI had something other than Service industry jobs, there wouldn't be as much of a strain on state services. Your tax money goes more to corporate welfare than mothers and children in poverty.

Yacht building is a niche business that caters to the wealthy. I doubt these businesses are creating the necessary jobs that stimulate the economy.

[durtee librul]

34. Well said.....

Yacht building huh? Well let's all run out and buy one so this guy's business can REALLY flourish....Has the Prince ordered his yet? Oh silly me, he's probably on his 3rd one.

Sorry to be sarcastic, but I hate to disagee with you - Unions are what made this country what it is and whether you like them or not, you have the Unions to thank for lot of the things you enjoy today - like health care or even the ability to HAVE health care. There are a ton of other bennies Unions have gotten not only for their members, but for others as well.

One has to look no futher than the SE corner of WI for proof. Back when American Motors was up and running, Johnson Wax (or SC Johnson as they now like to be called) had to (egad!) compete for workers...so they had to match or better the wages/bennies by the automotive company (which by the way usually set pattern for the big 3).

Well guess what, since AMC is radically downsized, Johnson's bennies, while still above average, have been steadily decreasing...why? Well, why shouldn't they? They aren't competing with those damn high union wages any longer and since most of the mfg jobs in WI have disappeared overseas and south of the border leaving service jobs and outlet retail jobs, why should they continue to pay and wreck their almighty bottom dollar?

And yes, I have friends who have worked for 30 plus years at BOTH places and SC Johnson has curtailed MANY MANY of their benefits and they know first hand why. Now you do too. So please before you denigrate the Unions, read your history, don't be like lil boots.

[AllieB]

36. Unions: the people that brought you the weekend.

:thumbsup:

We need them now more than ever.

[hack89]

39. Take a close look at what the

government worker and teacher unions have done for RI. Through their political influence they are the most powerful groups in RI and they are bankrupting us. When I have to pay taxes to provide a state worker benefits I would never get and all I get in return is shitty service and lousy schools then I think I have a legitimate gripe

[hack89]

37. Nothing wrong with unions

my life benefited enormously from my father being in a union.

Boat building and repair provides many high paying jobs for skilled craftsmen and mechanics. Who cares if the rich benefit if it means healthy pay checks foe workers?

Government service and teacher unions are bankrupting Rhode Island. They have carved a tiny state up into tiny fiefdoms (do we really need 36 school districts?) and then used their political influence to get generous contracts with benefits that a typical worker has absolutely no chance in hell of ever getting. And they stick it to the tax payer to pay for it all. We are facing a massive state deficit, our taxes are sky high and the unions just sit there and demand more. Unions are killing themselves in RI.

[Bluebear]

33. 'a unionized, welfare state like RI'??? Are you lost??? nt

[AllieB]

35. Go do a little searchy-poo.

Veddy veddy interesting stuff.

[hack89]

38. No - I just know my state all too well. nt

[ProudDad]

40. business friendly is good how?

"boat and yacht building" are hardly qualifies as "mass manufacturing of commodities"

[melm00se]

45. "mass manufacturing of commodities"

are jobs that are at high risk. items that are commoditized are low margin, extremely cost sensitive. With that situation, that kind of manufacturing follows the lowest cost labor.

Specialized businesses, like boat building/repair, are more focused on location of the addressable customer base (ie, you don't build a boat repair business in the middle of the desert - not a lot of business there) than the availability of low cost labor.

I can understand hack's comments about unions. Like anything, when a union turns to be self serving at the expense of others, they shift from being part of the solution to being part of the problem.

[hack89]

46. Exactly my point

There is no place for mass manufacturing in RI - we can simply not compete on labor cost. Our only future is for businesses that take advantage of unique qualities that we have. As a international center of boating, boat building and repair is a perfect industry for RI that will never have to worry about competition from China. These jobs are also high skill and high paying. Another high tech growth center for us is the Navy Undersea Warfare Lab in Newport - they support a large number of small tech companies in addition to partnering with state colleges and universities. And they are also jobs that will not be outsourced to China. The economy as split in two - good paying jobs for the educated and low paying service industry jobs for the uneducated. The only choice for the state is to fix our education system (it sucks) and actively work to identify and support (financially and regulatory) industry that can compete in a global economy.

[Yavin4]

51. hack89 Does Have A Point: Job Growth Has Been Split Into Two Categories

Skilled vs. Unskilled labor. If you have skills, i.e. college education and in-demand job skills, then you will be employed at higher rates of pay than unskilled laborers. The key is getting skills and updating your skills throughout your life. For example, if you have IT skills, but the job market is glutted, then develop other skills such as Accounting or learn a foreign language. The idea that one set of skills will keep you middle class for life is an antiquated notion.

Jobs that require no advanced training nor special knowledge, i.e. unskilled labor, will either be outsourced abroad or done by illegal aliens domestically. That's just the simple truth, even if every elected office in America went to the Democrats.

[ProudDad]

62. There's another option...

"The only choice for the state is to fix our education system (it sucks) and actively work to identify and support (financially and regulatory) industry that can compete in a global economy."

Another choice is to change the "rules of the game".

Right now, the rules of the game reward global corporate capitalists who pit one population of working people against another, who offshore jobs to lower wage markets, whose risk is subsidized and who are rewarded for inflicting pain on the working classes.

The "rules of the game" treat people and the environment as disposable cogs in the great machine of profit making...

Change the rules so that it costs more to offshore than to employ local labor. Change the rules so that corporations have to pay TAXES to support the COMMONS if they want to continue living here no matter WHERE their profits pretend to reside. Change the rules to punish corporate consolidation rather than promote it...

But, the cures won't be applied until we actually create a Democracy here and finally have real control of the making of the "Rules of the Game". If you want to check out a population that's closer to that ideal of Democracy, check out the French. If their capitalists try to shred THEIR SAFETY NET, they're out in the streets or on strike. Their government is afraid of them rather than the other way around.

We need that here -- we need to remove the corporations from our Commons by any means necessary...

[ProudDad]

41. I didn't

so I guess that means that 50% of the population did great and the other 50% did worse.

Links to facts please...

[rmgarrette64]

69. Central Cal, eh?

Do you know any of those gurus who might be willing to move down to the LA area? If so, could you give me some contact info. Sorry to go direct, and not look at the "big picture" but we're looking for some programmers and config management people, and they're hard to come by at the moment.

R. Garrett (posting for my husband, who's the one making the request...)

[bluerum]

47. Lots of ice cream slingers are needed every summer. eom

[marmar]

2. Summer travel season.....

Watch the numbers drop like boulders in the fall.

[Mist]

3. State and local gov't generated nearly 1/3 of the jobs? Ironic, under an

administration that claims to want to reduce gov't...

[merwin]

5. "Just because job growth is better than expected doesn't mean that it is strong,"

My favorite quote from that article.

[Tempest]

7. McJobs

More McJobs created and the Bush supporters cheer.

[ixion]

11. exactly.

[conspirator]

12. and MartJobs n/t

[TexasLawyer]

18. but now that assembling hamburgers is considered "manufacturing"

these are all good factory jobs. (Except they're being performed at minimum wage and with few benefits).

[DavidDvorkin]

9. Don't we still need 150,000 jobs per month

On average, to keep up with population growth? If so, then even putting aside the quality of the new jobs, we're falling behind.

[Doctor_J]

10. Yes, and this will be adjusted down in a few weeks

the Busheconomy is just as big a train wreck as Bushwar

[depakid]

59. Impressive how that works, isn't it

Even more impressive is that the corporate media keeps right on reporting the figures as if they were gospel truth.

[rocktivity]

57. You're right. 132,000 isn't steady growth, then

it's reimbursement.

:(
rocknation

[dkofos]

16. I will wait untill the end of this month to see the downwardly revised

numbers for june that will never be reported.

[mitchum]

19. Summer jobs: ice cream vendors, lifeguards, camp counselors, other tourist related

bet on it

[TechBear_Seattle]

20. How many are dead-end service jobs? How many pay a livable wage?

It does no one any good when the new jobs are almost all less-than-minimum-wage waitstaff or counter help at some fast food outlet.

[rainbow4321]

21. Those that still have their jobs are losing hours and bennies

Granted my facility is more of the exception and not the rule for hospitals/nurses but you can't help but wonder if it is happening in other professions.
Found out that the hospital is doing so poorly (lots of new hospitals in town "taking" our patients) that nurses are being being cancelled d/t low patient census. The hospital is now telling the nurses that they may have to share hours w/ other nurses--like one would work 6 hrs and then another would come in to work the rest of the 12 hour shift for 6 hours while the first nurse goes home. Other option given to the nurses to get their hours in is to float to another hospital in the area that is owned by my hospital.
If a nurse doesn't maintain his/her full 36 hour work week, the hospital will no longer pay for the bennies that come with the full time status.. i.e the nurse will have to start paying for his/her own health insurance.

So, yeah, these nurses still technically "have jobs" but imagine the $tress that is with that job.

Meanwhile, upper management cruises along, collecting their full paychecks and bennies while the ones at the bottom of the food chain
are more or less living paycheck to paycheck--and not even a FULL paycheck since they keep getting cancelled!

[struggle4progress]

23. Bogus numbers from bogus formulas.

[DesertKart]

24. Is it always a conspiracy? Couldn't it be that the economy is doing well?

[struggle4progress]

29. Look at the DOL release. The numbers are based on so-called "Household Survey Data"

In my view, the "Household Survey Data" is a scam, particularly in light of how it is used.

In computing unemployment, they first disregard a third of the labor force as "non-participating."

This is politically motivated statistical reporting, and if it weren't done the Administration would be telling us we have Depression-era levels of unemployment.

There appears to be an underlying structural factor: although the size of labor force grew by over 300K in June, fewer than 200K of the new entrants got jobs, while the other third will temporarily show up in the unemployed column until they too get dropped as "non-participating."

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm
http://www.bls.gov/cps/

And it's misleading to speak of "the" economy as if it were a single entity: different social sectors can very different experiences.

The CEO of a company who encourages his managers to limit workers to 35 hrs/wk, in order to avoid paying benefits, will have a very different view of the situation than the affected workers will: as many such workers end up working multiple part-time jobs, trying to make ends meet, I do not expect them to cheer about how well the economy is doing based on the CEO's bottom line.

[robcon]

44. I think you miss the statistical sensitivity of the data.

"In computing unemployment, they first disregard a third of the labor force as "non-participating."

This is politically motivated statistical reporting, and if it weren't done the Administration would be telling us we have Depression-era levels of unemployment.

There appears to be an underlying structural factor: although the size of labor force grew by over 300K in June, fewer than 200K of the new entrants got jobs, while the other third will temporarily show up in the unemployed column until they too get dropped as "non-participating."

The third of the population that is not in the labor force are:

-too young to work
-in school
-retired
-not looking for work
-disabled
-in institutions (prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers, etc.)

These are, appropriately, not part of the work force, and they have never been part of the work force since the data were started in the 1940's.

[struggle4progress]

50. Your response makes it clear that you are not even examined the numbers.

Before you lecture me about people who are "too young to work," "retired,"
"in institutions" and so on, why don't you at least examine the numbers I am discussing?

I already provided the link but to avoid confusion here it ia again: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm

What are we discussing? The BLS counts about 153 million in the labor force (146 million employed and another 7 million unemployed), and another 78 million outside it. That is about 231 million people. But the current total US population is somewhere around 301 million, so some 70 million people have been excluded before we even begin the discussion. And who are those 231 million? They are the "civilian noninstitutional population" of age "16 years and over," as you can see by retrieving the appropriate data here: http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm

So the numbers I am discussing absolutely do not include people "too young to work" or "people in institutions." I'm discussing those 231 million. Note that only two thirds of them have jobs. And note that only two-thirds of the 300K who entered the "civilian noninstitutional population" of age "16 years and over" in June found employment.

You should note further that anyone with a part-time job is counted as "employed." The current situation here is stunning. Among those counted as employed, the BLS says 23 million do not have fulltime jobs. Moreover, according to the BLS, the average (nonfarm) "employed" payroll employee only works about 33 hrs/wk: thus, either the people with only part-time employment are working very very few hours, or else the BLS is counting as "full-time" employment certain jobs which offer substantially less than 40 hrs/wk (and hence offer no benefits). The numbers are here:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t05.ht
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

Finally, let's talk about the "not looking for work" category: despite your claim, the criteria for inclusion in this group has not been uniform "since the data were started in the 1940." Moreover, the BLS inconsistently reports across its website the inclusion criteria. If we include people who "indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past," then the BLS would compute the unemployment rate as 8.7%; see here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm

So, thanks for playing: next time please look at the numbers before delivering your homily.

[Kingofalldems]

55. Methinks the OP is a big fan of the GOP economy

I thought at first he was posting news, but it seems like he's saying "Look how great the republicans are".

[robcon]

61. Your response suggests what I surmised...

Your conclusion, struggle4progress:

"This is politically motivated statistical reporting, and if it weren't done the Administration would be telling us we have Depression-era levels of unemployment."

was created before you even had the energy to check the data. Conclusions first, research never.

I find it fascinating that you think you - alone - found this "error" in the data, and didn't bother to even check what the civilian, non-institutionalized population over 16 was.

BUT YOU SURE MADE A QUICK, STUPID CONCLUSION that it was due to politically motivated reporting. As an economist, your conclusion about the BLS statistics is laughable.

[Kingofalldems]

56. Thanks for your concern.

[Doctor_J]

48. "Economy is doing well" doesn't even match the data on the surface

since we need to 150,000 jobs to break even. Then when you read closely, as many here have explained, you see that this headline is a hoax, written by wingers

[KansDem]

53. $11 million *an hour* being flushed down the Iraqi toilet...

Yeah, somebody's doing well. Our tax dollars going to corporate welfare.

I don't ever want to hear again some neo-con bitching about "cadillac-driving welfare queens."

[durtee librul]

32. Of course they are

we all need 3 or more jobs now to make ends meet.

[ProudDad]

42. I'm underwhelmed...

"June's gains were narrowly based in the service sector, particularly government, education, health and leisure. While state and local governments generated nearly a third of new jobs, manufacturing jobs declined for the 12th straight month, and retail, trade, and professional and business services also slipped."

to reiterate: "Narrowly based in the service sector" -- easily hired, underpaid, overworked and easily fired...

Big whoop...

"the rate that banks pay each other for overnight loans — unchanged at 5.25%."

If it were REALLY a good deal for workers the Fed would have immediately done something about "inflationary tendencies". Since they ain't doin' shit one can assume that the corporate capitalists are doin' fine and the workers remain very weak.

[Delphinus]

49. I know ...

in our local paper, they showed a picture of a hot dog vendor to go with the headline. I thought to myself, "yeah, this guy's going to go out and buy a new home or a new vehicle."

[fasttense]

43. Happy Days Are Here Again

"However, diminished job growth this year, evident in both surveys, has not led to higher unemployment rates. One reason for this unusual development is the decline in the share of the population in the labor force, down three-tenths of a percentage point since December of last year. Since only those seeking work are counted as unemployed, this decline may reflect potential job seekers taking themselves out of the running, as it were, and thus not counted among the unemployed.

A closer look at labor force participation rates strengthens this hypothesis. Rates are down more sharply for both minority and younger persons, groups whose participation is known to be highly "elastic," i.e., especially sensitive to the economy's ups and downs. Since last December, labor force participation rates (LFPR) are down 0.6 points for African Americans (twice the overall decline of 0.3 points), and down 0.9 points for Hispanics, perhaps reflecting employment losses in residential construction.

Were those missing 0.3% from the LFPR on the unemployment rolls instead of out of the labor force, the unemployment rate would be 5.0% instead of the current 4.5%.

Outside of education and health, the other private service sector with strong growth in June was leisure and hospitality, which added 39,000 jobs, with most of those gains coming from restaurants and bars (35,000). Most other service sectors pulled back in June. Retail trade employment was down 24,000, and professional service jobs—office jobs like legal services, temp help, and accounting—were down 9,000, a reversal of the 24,000 average monthly gain over the prior two months.

Financial services had a weak month, essentially flat at 1,000 net new jobs. This partially reflects weakness in hiring related to the housing slump. For example, employment among credit intermediaries—persons that help arrange mortgage loans—was down 9,000 in June. Residential construction was essentially flat last month, while non-residential added about 12,000 jobs. Some analysts have raised concerns about BLS's addition of jobs to the construction sector from their "birth/death" model (used to adjust the sample to account for firms' births and deaths), but June's relatively small adjustment of 26,000 for construction (both residential and non-residential) is unlikely to skew the results.

Manufacturing continues its long employment slide, down 18,000 in June, with losses spread throughout the sub-sectors. The factory sector has contracted for each of the past 12 months, and is down 191,000 over the past year, and 1.8 million over the economic recovery that began in November 2001."

http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20070706

But according to some posters here on DU life is beautiful. The economy is grrrreat and anyone who dare question the numbers doesn't realize it's all the Unions fault.

[onecent]

52. Yep, my friend who has just become a widow and works part time for

J. C. Penneys Store....Well, the store is closing and she can take a cut in pay and work at the new J. C. Penney OUTLET store about 10 miles from there.

I think she kind of depends on some of this cash, because she's still so newly widowed that she doesn't know how secure she may be....Even so...there may be new jobs...but old jobs have gone away to bring the new ones...

[Ilsa]

54. I don't see it here in our little city. We had a large dept store just close;

another hobby/sewing store closed (JoAnne Fabrics) closed a month ago. I've heard of some other places closing that I didn't go to.

The city and county yanked up our appraised values on our homes (except in Country Club) -- about $40/month more for us -- and they can't figure out where they are going to get the money to run the place. Personally, I think there is some sort of artifical support going on with home prices in this market. Services are being cut also (garbage collection is down to once per week, so they are laying off people). Some doctors are leaving also. We're in Texas.

A friend of mine works in a bank's trustee dept for payout of income on mortgage-backed bonds. The low-rated bonds backed by sub-prime lending mortgages are in the crapper.

[radicalcapitalist]

58. Bush, Clinton...whoever...it just keeps chugging along.

The American economy is the finest in the world. This economy is even providing jobs for more than 12 million Mexicans.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

67. Unless...

You are one of the millions out of work or getting coolie wages. Then, not so much.

[truthisfreedom]

60. I did my part and hired two full-timers in June.

I'm happy I could help.

[lovuian]

64. Propoganda

and mind control article
Believe that the economy is OK but its not

[tom_paine]

65. Sorry, but any numbers put out by the Bush Imperium are extremely suspect

4.5% unemployment? Better than the Clinton days, with employment sections of the paper that could choke a mule?

Bullshit. As bullshit as 1978 Soviet Tractor Spare Part Production figures.

So, robcon, we have the same dilemna we would have had in the Soviet Union in 1978. You say the Commie Comrades say tractor spare parts increased production by 600%, but I can see three farms who are using old fashioned mule and plow because their tractors are rusting from my front porch.

Same thing here, and I would most welcome a return of the Old American Republic with it's at least semi-honest numbers relating the condition of the nation. But that is not possible under the current BushPtuinist form of government we have now.

[BushOut06]

66. There is nothing good to celebrate about the economy

The US economy is a house of cards, on the verge of collapse. I suppose the economy is roaring along, if you're a corporate fatcat or bigtime investor who depends on the Dow Jones for their financial success. But among "normal" blue-collar workers, the economy flat out SUCKS. The housing market has collapsed, many people in the construction industry are now unemployed. I know several people who have lost their jobs in just the past month because of this.

There is a huge income gap in this country, and it's only gotten worse during the Bush years. You have corporate fatcats getting richer, while the peasants at the bottom scrounge to get by on less and less. Many corporations are getting rid of full-time employees so that they don't have to worry about giving them benefits. Millions of Americans are without any form of healthcare at all. Add to that the rising cost of gas, some people just can't afford to drive to work anymore.

I don't know which America that report is referring to, but it's not my America.

[NotGivingUp]

68. yeah...and i've got some swampland here in florida I'd be glad to sell ya. nt