Jobs Rise 96,000 in August, Below Expectations; Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.1
Source: Reuters
Jobs growth brakes in August, seen forcing Fed's hand
By Lucia Mutikani
Fri Sep 7, 2012 8:50am EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jobs growth slowed more than expected in August, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to pump additional money into the sluggish economy next week and dealing a blow to President Obama as he seeks reelection in November.
Nonfarm payrolls increased only 96,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, it was largely due to Americans giving up the search for work.
The report's weak tenor was also underscored by revisions to June and July data to show 41,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one, fell to 63.5 percent -- the lowest since September 1981.
The lackluster report keeps the pressure on Obama ahead of the November vote in which the health of the economy looms large.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE88604Y20120907?irpc=932
Response to Hissyspit (Original post)
davidpdx This message was self-deleted by its author.
powergirl
(2,393 posts)because they have been hoping for bad news for our country.
still_one
(92,122 posts)S_E_Fudd
(1,295 posts)Romney needs something earth shattering to shake this race out of its current trajectory. This won't do it...jobs are still being created and unemployment is down...
Lower than expected, but I think the voters have factored this in...I think they realize the enormous weight Congress has been and are giving Obama credit for what he was able to do...
still_one
(92,122 posts)expectation.
However, it is a valid argument that republican obstructionism is why it has taken so long
In addition, it WAS the republican policies that caused this problem, and we are still trying to clean it up
liberallibral
(272 posts)We need to get the ball rolling and get unemployment UNDER 8%... The Repubs continue to harp on that, and will use that talking point until November......
S_E_Fudd
(1,295 posts)Is not going to shake the dynamics of the election...
liberallibral
(272 posts)This election wouldn't be nearly as close, if we pulled out of the "status quo"... In my opinion, status quo is BAD NEWS!
savalez
(3,517 posts)Not according to the NYT
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
INdemo
(6,994 posts)to hear C.Todd and CNBC analyst one would think we lost a million jobs..Once he got the scripts he followed it to a T when just 45 min. earlier he was agreeing that this rreport put the wind at Obama's back..what a Republican hack.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)Roland99
(53,342 posts)data back to 2002:
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000/
The unemployment rate dropped because people are leaving the workforce because they can't find work!
change the start year in the dropdown to 1981 to see that chart.
Yavin4
(35,433 posts)The private sector is adding jobs. It's the public sector that is killing them. What's needed is another stimulus to the economy which should include block grants for the states to pay public sector workers.
Pa lost 14,000+ public school jobs in 2011 alone ...
It has been a VERY coordinated and unified effort from DC to every republican controlled state to purge public sector jobs.
How ANY balanced journalist can accept the conflicting impacts of supposed drives to balance budgets with the need to add jobs is beyond any reason.
bhikkhu
(10,715 posts)If they are concerned about jobs and the deficit, why did they kill the American Jobs Act? CBO estimates it would create 2 million jobs: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/07/1023967/-CBO-Senate-version-of-American-Jobs-Act-reduces-deficit-by-6-billion-in-nbsp-next-nbsp-decade
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)budkin
(6,699 posts)Guess the pukes are happy today.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Beacool
(30,247 posts)"While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, it was largely due to Americans giving up the search for work."
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)(Of course the article cited in the OP notes a couple of paragraphs down that it's actually bad news.)
ETA here's another one. The BBC simply spins it as good news without looking deeper.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021294828
Beacool
(30,247 posts)Every time that the unemployment rate has gone down in past months it has been due to people dropping out of the work force and not because a substantial number of jobs were created. How it can be spun as good news is beyond me.