Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan Already Created, Saved 720,000 Jobs

[iandhr]

Source: AFL-CIO

President Obama’s economic recovery package created or saved some 720,000 jobs in the second quarter, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Although the economy continued to shrink, the effect would have been much worse without the recovery act, says EPI economist Josh Bivens.

The Commerce Department is expected to announce tomorrow that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by about 1.5 percent in the second quarter, one-fourth the rate in the first three months of the year. Without the recovery legislation, the rate would have been around 4.5 percent, Bivens says. That translates into about 720,000 jobs, he adds.


The personal tax cuts and the one-time payment to Social Security recipients in the recovery package can be expected to raise disposable personal incomes by roughly $37 billion, which should increase consumer spending, Bivens says. Also, state and local governments received $31 billion more to spend on essential services than they would have without the legislation.

Read more: http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/07/30/obamas-economic-recovery-plan-already-created-saved-720000-jobs/

[GoesTo11]

1. Wrong. Unemployment has gone from 6.8% in Nov to 9.5% today.

That's jobs destroyed, not jobs created. It's certainly not below 8% like Obama promised.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Try again.

That's 9.5 today compared to the 13% it WOULD have been.

Nobody's saying it's good - but that it would have been MUCH worse.

[GoesTo11]

3. Damn, now you want me to think about hypotheticals?

My brain hurts!

[JuniperLea]

23. Business models and financial forecasts are ALL hypotheticals...

Without hypotheticals, this conversation means nothing.

[Oregone]

9. Wrong. Obama, who I trust, told us we would peak at 9% UE without the stimulus

So, if you take from that, this stimulus created .5% higher unemployment than he said we would have without it.

:)

[timeforpeace]

16. Yeah, but spinning it to look like good news is pathetic.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. The idea that this is spin only holds up if you stop reading before the

second sentence in the article.

[johnaries]

4. Read the frigging OP. It would have been much worse. nt

[Dawgs]

5. You sound just like a conversation I had on Twitter with Karl Rove.

Exact same conversation.

Apparantely, hundreds of thousands of saved/new jobs isn't enough for some.

[kestrel91316]

6. It would have been a lot worse if not for Obama's actions.

You need remedial reading.

[yodoobo]

Don't use this good news to Bash Obama

If it weren't for Obama's plans, unemployment would probably be around %20 to %25 by now.

Like it or not, Obama saved us all from total economic destruction.

We should all be thanking him, not sitting around grumbling.

[jpak]

26. Without Obama, it would be 12.5%

The stimulus is working

too bad

:D

[followthemoney]

34. I have actually written a few posts on DU that have created...

300,000 jobs. Who knows how bad things would be right now if it weren't for my efforts? You see, although my ideas are shared by only a small number of people their effect is like that of a butterfly flapping its wings in Peking. Mandelbrot makes good efforts to explain this effect.

Oh, you skeptics! Prove me wrong or fall on your knees in worship of me.

[madrchsod]

7. do`t mean shit to those folks around here

two manufacturing plants closed within the month leaving almost 400 people with no chance of finding another job in years.

the 250 check i got went to paying the electricity. personal income reduction was eat up by tax and insurance increases.


what is the saying...you can fool people some of the time.....

[Kber]

8. Oh boy I be the republicans are glad they put partisan politics aside to get on board

:)

[mule_train]

10. Good news for India nt

[RedCloud]

11. There will be plenty new jobs guarding republican criminals!

[Skittles]

12. yeah right

[twitomy]

13. wow this will be a winning slogan for re-election:

"Things suck but it could be much WORSE!"

How the hell does one calculate how many jobs were "saved"?

My job wasnt "saved". Been out of work since May and I have my first face to face interview next week....And I am supposedly in the hi-tech field, you know, "jobs of the future"...

[iandhr]

14. I am sorry your out of work

But the point I was trying to make was that thing would have been worse with out the recovery act. Good luck at your job interview

[twitomy]

27. Well I cant argue the fact that govt spending DOES

stimulate the economy, But we got some serious fundamental economic issues that cant be addressed by simply more debt spending. Jobs leaving, stagnant wages, exploding medical and education costs,
IMHO the middle class is getting squeezed into non-existance and its been going on as long as I can remember. I hope Congress/Pres can come up with a solution for the healthcare issue; but being the cynic towards politicians, Im afraid we are going to get a real piece of shit plan.

Just yesterday took my 3 kids to the Dentist for check up, cleaning. We are now on my wifes dental plan as she is now working full time in lieu of me working. Dentist wont take the new dental plan..
Too much payment bullshit from the insurerer (United Concordia). So I would have to pay over $345 to get the kids done. Had to walk out. Just dont have that $$ to spend right now.

Thanks on the job wishes...Spending too much time here! LOL!

[sofa king]

15. I think the point is that this President actually tried to do something.

After eight years of criminal plutocracy and total indifference to the plight of Americans with less-than-six-figure incomes, someone actually tried to stop the downward spiral.

Thank you, President Obama, for having the courage and the intellect to begin addressing the problems that were ignored for the entire first three quarters of this decade. You actually did something, which is more than I can say for your predecessors.

[taught_me_patience]

17. How do you measure "saved" jobs?

This is pure bullshit.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. By looking at where the stimulus money has gone so far, and seeing

what jobs/industries were on the verge of collapse and DIDN'T because of the infusion of funds.

It's not rocket science.

[gmoney]

31. Well, if stimulus money went to a company, thus preventing planned layoffs

I guess that could count as a "saved job."

I've kept my job, but I don't think I should be count as a "stimulus save."

[Truth Talks]

18. I'm so impressed - NOT.

What KIND of jobs has Obama created - stable, long-term (and hopefully full-time) jobs, or jobs that will only last as long as they're being held afloat by stimulus dollars?

Speaking of which, how can anyone hope to fix an economy by ignoring the problems that threw it into crisis mode? What's Obama done about deregulation, job outsourcing and similar problems? He obviously adores corporate welfare. He's also a big fan of packing his administration with corporate thugs.

So pardon me if I take this "news" with a big grain of salt.

[alcibiades_mystery]

19. The AFL-CIO blog is NOT a news source

Please follow LBN rules. Alerted.

[Truth Talks]

21. Amen

If the AFL-CIO is anything like the Teamsters or National Education Association, it isn't even a union.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. That's neither here nor there with respect to my point

And if we were talking in a bar, I'd walk away as soon as you started spouting your anti-union bullshit.

[Truth Talks]

24. Anti-Union? Yeah, right.

First, my post is absolutely relevant. The key word is CREDIBILITY.

And your "anti-union" crap is just a cheap form of propaganda. I regard government and unions both as necessary evils. I will support GOOD government and GOOD unions. When they're corrupt, I go on the warpath.

And if you want to continue with your "anti-union bullshit" bullshit, I'd suggest you do a little homework. Surely you can't believe that ALL unions are on the level.

Have a nice day.

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. This is the part of the story

where I've already found your pseudo-libertarian nonsense odious and infantile, and unworthy of further attention. Buh-bye now.

[RaleighNCDUer]

33. "If the AFL-CIO is anything like the Teamsters or National Education Association,

it isn't even a union."

A statement like this indicates you have no fucking idea what you are talking about.

[JuniperLea]

20. It's like housework...

You don't see what was done, only what wasn't.

People don't understand how close to the abyss we came. Pathetic how short-sighted even so-called progressives and liberals are.

[Truth Talks]

25. What abyss?

We've been close to the abyss for a long time. A growing number of people are coming to believe that the eventual "recovery" may be the abyss. It's like the person who dies and wakes up in a very comfortable room watching an incredibly boring slide show. They discover they're in Hell.

[Statistical]

28. Those are some expensive jobs.

$700B plan. 18% has been spent = $126B. It saved or created 720,000 jobs.

That's $175,000 per job.

Hey Obama give me $175,000 and someone can have my job.
I'll travel for next couple years while the economy recovers.

[SammyWinstonJack]

35. .

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. Yes, hyperinflation is wonderful

:wow:

[SammyWinstonJack]

37. .

[followthemoney]

38. The good news is...

"President Obama’s economic recovery package created or saved some 720,000 jobs in the second quarter, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)."

Unfortunately, the bad news is: the new jobs were created in CHINA.