Research

Today’s take on the jobs report from a former Obama-Biden economic advisor and Clinton Labor Secretary: 

• Former Clinton Labor Secretary On October Jobs Report: "This Is Not Good News"

“Well, I wish there were light at the end of this long jobless tunnel, but Chris, there's not very much light. This 80,000 figure looks pretty good if you don't put it in context. We need 125,000 new jobs per month just to keep up with population growth. We are so far behind the eight ball right now that 80,000 new jobs just is actually a little bit better, but we're so -- it's not really an improvement. I mean, you've got to bend and twist and look at this in very distorted ways to assume that this is good news. This is not good news.”  (MSNBC’s “Jansing & Company,” 11/4/11)

• Former Obama-Biden Economic Advisor Jared Bernstein: “We’re Just Very Much Stuck In A Slog Here”
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-bernstein/october-jobs-report-_b_1075931.html

We're just very much stuck in a slog here. The private sector is expanding at a snail's pace, while state and local governments continue to cut jobs. It's a vicious cycle where weak employment growth is leading to weak wage* and income growth and that's dampening consumption and GDP growth. And as long as consumers remain strapped, it's hard for me to see why corporations sitting on trillions in cash reserves would invest here as opposed to expanding, emerging economies elsewhere.

• The New York Times: “Barely Worth Celebrating”
  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/business/economy/us-added-80000-jobs-in-october.html

While job growth is certainly better than job losses, a gain of 80,000 jobs is barely worth celebrating. That was just about enough to keep up with population growth, so it did not significantly reduce the backlog of 14 million unemployed workers. As a result, the unemployment rate hardly budged, dropping to 9 percent from 9.1 percent in September. The rate has not fallen below 9 percent in seven months. In the year before the recession began in December 2007, the jobless rate averaged about half that, at 4.6 percent.

• The Associated Press: “Obama Will Likely Face The Voters With The Highest Unemployment Rate Of Any Postwar President” http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/11/us_employers_add_80000_jobs_un.html

The report suggests that President Barack Obama will likely face the voters with the highest unemployment rate of any postwar president.”

• The Hill: “The Figures Mean Obama Will Probably Be Saddled With High Unemployment Through The 2012 Elections”
  http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/801-economy/191817-the-economy-adds-80000-jobs-in-october

The figures mean Obama will probably be saddled with high unemployment through the 2012 elections — if he wins he will be the first since Franklin Roosevelt to capture the nation's top office with at least an 8 percent jobless rate.