The headline unemployment number that will dominate the news today looks good for President Obama: Unemployment has dropped to 7.7%. But just 146,000 jobs were created, which is barely enough to keep up with population growth.
Underneath that number, the picture still looks grim. The total labor force participation rate dropped to a 30-year low. About 540,000 Americans decided to stop seeking work. Their leaving the labor force helped contribute to the overall “drop” in unemployment. Additionally, the numbers from September and October were revised downward.
The Labor Department’s initial report for October showed a gain of 171,000 jobs, but now is listed at 138,000. The September gain of 148,000 was taken down to 132,000.
Contrary to the musings of Barack Obama, this economy is not “poised to take off.”
Update: In a conversation with Daniel Sosa, one of our freelance writers, we determined that about 2.38 million Americans have left the US labor force from November 2011 to November 2012.
Update: 73% of all jobs created in the past five months: government jobs.
The economy continues to limp along. The administration hid the ball on the economy leading up to the election. But now that they are safely in charge for 4 more years, are they going to believe that their own sh*t don’t stink?
I will be laid off in May. As a 58 yr old college professor in chemistry, my outlook for a job is bleak. I will either become one of the Obamaholics, go to a barter system for commerce or leave the country where my meager savings will go much farther. Obama is the worst President in my lifetime without a doubt. Until we adopt Austrian economics, liberty of the individual, return to the Constitutional parameters of the federal government, go to a Fair Tax and get rid of the 50% of government that is fraud, waste and inflated social handouts, this country is cooked!
“…get rid of the 50% of government that is fraud, waste and inflated social handouts…”
I think it’s more like 80%, and that still might be rather generous.
Dear John M. You are quite correct. I recommend you look at Panama or Costa Rica, where the quality of life is good, the costs lower, and the demand for well educated professors is strong. Start looking now; the residency process is lengthy, but over 1.5 million Americans have already done so, and that number is growing.
Ah, for the good old days of 2006, when unemployment was 5% and fuel prices were just around $2.00 per gallon. WTF happened?