White House: "The Employment Situation in November"

[Clio the Leo]

The Employment Situation in November

Posted by Austan Goolsbee on December 03, 2010 at 09:36 AM EST
Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 50,000 in November, lower than expectations, but continuing eleven consecutive months of private sector job growth. The pace was not enough to prevent the unemployment rate from climbing to 9.8 percent.

While the overall trend of economic data over the past two months has been encouraging, today’s numbers underscore the importance of extending expiring tax cuts for the middle class and unemployment insurance for those Americans who have lost their jobs. Failure to do this would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of additional jobs, and leave millions of Americans, who are out of work through no fault of their own, on their own.

In addition to the increase in November, the estimates of private sector job growth for September (now 112,000) and October (now 160,000) were revised up. Since last December, the economy has added 1.2 million private sector jobs. So far this quarter, including today’s revisions, private sector employers have added an average of 105,000 jobs per month.

Overall payroll employment rose by 39,000 last month. Among the sectors with the largest payroll employment growth were education and health services (+30,000) and temporary help services (+39,500). Retail trade (-28,100), manufacturing (-13,000), state and local government jobs (-13,000), and construction (-5,000) were among the sectors that subtracted from the total.

An unemployment rate of 9.8 percent is unacceptably high and we need to achieve robust employment growth in order to recover from the deep job losses that began over two years ago. Although the overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past year, there will surely continue to be bumps in the road ahead such as this. The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

It is essential that we take the additional targeted actions that the President has recommended to increase growth and job creation, such as extending tax cuts for the middle class, investing in our infrastructure, providing tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest and hire here at home, and promoting exports abroad.



http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/03/employment-situation-november

[jefferson_dem]

1. The best story (spin) possible.

Given the digits were less good than hoped.

[Clio the Leo]

4. Gotta feel for Austan today, dont you?

"Go out there and try to make this sh*t no smell so bad."

[WI_DEM]

2. Now the president should hold a prime time news conference

and not sugur coat things. 9.8% is a disaster even if there has been several months of job growth. He needs to point out that unemployment benefits must be extended immediately to alleviate the suffering and get money into the economy. He says if congress doesn't do it he will request that congress be kept in session over Xmas until it's done if necessary. He should also point out that he wants to extend tax cuts for the middle class but the GOP is demanding that tax cuts for the rich be extended as well and should point out that those tax cuts for the rich have increased the deficit and not done a damn thing for the economy and if we are going to be tightening our fiscal belts that is a good place to start.

It's the bully pulpit--it should be used!

[rusty fender]

3. That's assuming he cares about the unemployed

He's been so tepid thus far about jobs, and the lack thereof.:-(

[Clio the Leo]

5. The majority of the public isn't the problem...

.... the tiny fraction of this country in the South and mid-west with incomes over $250,000 a year are the problem. Only way they'll listen to him is if he lets their lobbyists into his administration.

[Igel]

6. I'm cynical enough for this comment.

In early 2010 they still cited as definitive the total payroll employment numbers. It made the upward trajectory smoother, nicer, all around more satisfying. Everything was working.

There was no problem when the Census sucked up workers. We got a nice upward trajectory, and all was well.

Then the Census workers were laid off and the payroll numbers went negative again. All of a sudden "private payroll" was a very common phrase, those negative numbers vanished as layoffs by government stopped mattering. It revised the upward trajectory a bit, but kept the growth rate positive--whatever was actually happening.