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Subscribe to RSSWith the April unemployment report released this morning, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told voters in Pennsylvania that the slight drop in the unemployment rate is not cause for celebration.
Mitt Romney set some high standards for himself in reaction to Friday's lackluster jobs report from April.
The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, a number that fell below expectations and prompted worries of a slowdown in hiring. While the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, that was driven in part by people leaving the workforce.
Those numbers carry political significance, with only six months left until the election. In separate reactions to the April figures, Romney set standards that he thought represented what's acceptable.
The Romney standard, in short, would see the economy add 500,000 jobs per month. The former Massachusetts governor said that an unemployment rate above 4 percent is unacceptable.
"We should be seeing numbers in the 500,000 jobs created-per-month. This is way, way, way off from what should happen in a normal recovery," Romney said this morning on Fox News.
At an afternoon event in Pittsburgh, Romney said of the news that the unemployment rate had fallen to 8.1 percent: "Normally, that would be cause for celebration, but anything near 8 percent or over 4 percent is not cause for celebration."
The lowest the unemployment rate hit over the last decade was 4.4 percent, last achieved in May of 2007.
The high point of jobs added in the last decade came in May 2010, when the economy added 516,000 nonfarm payroll positions.
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I have nothing against Mitt Romney. It would seem however that whomever becomes president faces a situation that is not easily solved. Having Romney as president is not going to change our economic situation . There are no silver bullets. When there are hugh gov't spending cuts (as are really needed) then millions of gov't employees are out of jobs and then we get upset at unemployment rate. Impacts are going to be tough for a long time before this mess gets straightened out.
Interesting goals coming from the candidate who "likes to fire people" and who has shipped more jobs overseas, eliminated more jobs in corprorate takeovers, and thought Detroit "should go bankrupt". This man will say anything to get elected. Just let the Repulicans in Congress clear the way for this guy and the Ryan Budget will be just the beginning. Millionaires and billionaires will have the government they want. The rest of us will be out of luck.
Let's see now. I've got a restaurant, and I serve around 600 people a day on a good day. Lately, not so good. Now I'm serving only around 275. Do I face reality, and admit that my business is down over 50% and I need to do something about it? Or do I just claim that those 325 lost patrons per day don't count as a drop in business, because they must have decided they just aren't that hungry.
If I can't do this with my business, why can the White House do this with unemployment numbers. Millions of less people are working now. That is a fact. If they are not working, they are unemployed. 8.1% is a completely FALSE figure.
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So much for those bush tax cuts huh .....?..lets have more tax cuts for the job creators ...just look at all those jobs they created in the last dozen years..
To Amunaka:
So you're admitting that the 8.1% figure is false, and that we are not creating enough jobs? Do you also have a reason the Democrats haven't passed a budget in three years?
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No...and for not passing a budget...If I remember correctly record republican filibusters blue dog dems that didn't fare well in the 2010 elections ..and the repub no compromise no negotiation on anything ideology ...
and the historical record of over the last decade ..tax cuts do not create jobs .. we can see the mess created when repubs controlled the congress ..the senate and the Whitehouse from Jan 2003 to Jan 2007...and you want them back in power again
Republicans Push Tax Bill Through House
Associated Press
December 8, 2006;
WASHINGTON -- Rejected by voters and limping off stage, the Republican-led Congress muscled through a sweeping bill reviving expired tax breaks, extending trade benefits for developing countries and protecting doctors from a big cut in Medicare payments.
The Senate cleared the bill for President Bush's signature early Saturday by a 79-9 vote. Final adjournment loomed.
But Republicans dumped an unfinished budget on the Democrats about to take power, with the Senate barely meeting a midnight deadline to pass a stopgap spending bill putting the government on autopilot until Feb. 15.
The failure to pass budget bills for domestic agencies, said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., amounted to "a blatant admission of abject failure by the most useless Congress in modern times."
...http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/08/AR2006120801848.html
Amunaka: Thanks for the article. The questions were:
1) Is the 8.1% unemployment figure correct, or a manipulated number?
2) Has Harry Reid's Democratically controlled Senate failed to pass a budget -- as legally required -- for some three years?
Thanks for staying on point.
"Is the 8.1% unemployment figure correct, or a manipulated number?"
If it's a 'manipulated' number, then the numbers have been manipulated since we began keeping records at the BLS. They have always measured unemployment the same way; that's how we can compare rates across years.
DrDr....Just because "it's always been done that way" doesn't make it right.
I have a hard time seeing 120,000 jobs added and 342,000 people leaving the work force, and hearing that this equals a REDUCTION in the rate of unemployment. It sounds like somebody is desperate to quote a lower rate of unemployment for political advantage.
Playwriter: "Do you also have a reason the Democrats haven't passed a budget in three years?"
Yeah - it's called The Republicans ceaseless stoppage of any and all progress.
"Just because "it's always been done that way" doesn't make it right."
My point is that this is not an Obama-mandated policy. If we want to compare numbers from year to year, we have to measure them the same way EVERY year.
"I have a hard time seeing 120,000 jobs added and 342,000 people leaving the work force, and hearing that this equals a REDUCTION in the rate of unemployment. It sounds like somebody is desperate to quote a lower rate of unemployment for political advantage."
No, it sounds like the babyboomers are retiring. See here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-05-06/jobs-boomer-retirement/54791590/1
Fantasy bull sh*t from the lying right-wing.
The real question is which Foreign Country is he planning to create all of them jobs in. It's something that he's real familiar with.
You only need 1 word to discribe Romney - LIAR!!
you can't create jobs until you change the free trade policy. the policy was created by the rich to close down american manufacturing by buiding the plants overseas and paying cheap overseas labor a faction of the cost of the labor in the u.s. and then selling the goods produced as imports to the u.s. this creates unemployment and produces goverment huge goverment deficits. even the top secret night vision googles was outsouced to china giving them the technology. greed by the rich has outsourced all of the technology for cheap labor. shut the imports down and produce the goods in the u.s.
With comments like that-- 500M jobs every month wity 4% unemployment-- the etch a sketch pads will be in overtime when he can't explain why his lies never became true. The only thing Mitt the nitwit likes to make is more money for himself and his super rich buddies and corporations.
Is this the same crap he promised Mass.as Gov.? cause he left a huge deficit, and placed Mass at 47th in job creation!!!
BTW they had the richest job creator, as Gov., and he lost jobs,go figure...US MESS,not Mass
Obama had a detailed platform / plan posted on his website by this time in 08' I know because I took the time to read it. That's why he got my vote. Of course none of the hard right actually took the time to read it. They just saw HOPE / CHANGE and figured that was it. I'm an independent. I don't like everything Obama has done by a long shot, but he'll be getting my vote again in the fall... We've tried Mitt's way already. The rich are richer than ever, taxes are the lowest they have been in 60 years, and Obama's admin has been rolling back useless regulations and we are still in a funk. I don't want to give a rubber stamp to the far right, and that's exactly what a Romney presidency will be.
Mitt is just doing what he's always done. Saying whatever he needs to say to get dumb people to give him their money / vote / labor. None of this is new to him. He's been on every side of nearly every issue at one point or another. As someone pointed out before we have only added 500,000 jobs a month 4 times in the Nation's history. The odds of being able to get the economy cranking like that during times of austerity are slim to none, but Mitt will promise it anyways....
I am waiting for that buck and 1/2 gas to go along with these promises.
What a bunch of bull. Last time unemployment fell below 4% was under Clinton when tax rates were at 39%. How in the world can Mitt accomplish his set goal with the Ryan plan which further cuts taxes for the wealthy? He just mumbles and thinks no one will hear what he says. When he was Governor of Mass., his state was 48 out of 50 for job creating. Are we suppose to forget about this fact? Romney has zero leadership skills and wants to apply the Bush policies only on steroids.
Please don't interrupt the governor while he is re-writing history, thank you.
My standard is 3% and 600,000 a month but like Willard I don't have clue how to do it.
Bottom line, ol' stiffy will say anything that comes to his stupid head and the gullible will suck it up.
An odd comment from a former governor who's own job creation record put his State in the bottom 10%.
Romney's way to job growth, abolish the minimum wage. That way every one will starve.
A family of 4 living on Romney's' Staples wages is officially poverty level. Of course the taxpayer will pay for the rent or housing assistance and the taxpayer will subsidize with food stamps bain capitol's refusal to pay a living wage . As a matter of fact most of the Bain capitol companies pay wages poverty level or less.
That would be a million jobs every sixty days.
Romney MUST be on drugs !
Really? And all we have to do is elect Him? This guy believes his own BS. Does the rest of the country believe this as well? If so you deserve what you get.
Couple of points.back in 1993-94 when I was taking Macro Economics class for my engineering dergree, the texbook and experts were in agreement that unemployment below 6% was un attainable and that economy would overheat at lesser rates (and that's what happened).
Also, the job creation rate is a self fulfilling prophecy for Republicans. They want Obama to fail, so why should businessmen (primarily Republicans) do anything (like creating jobs) to help the President. So we have no jobs and the Republicans complain, while they have the ability to help the country (and themselves), but Oh, No Obama has to go.
Hypocrites!!!
Do you honestly believe business people would fail to expand and intentionally reduce their income just so that Obama wouldn't be re-elected?
PS: Do you also believe that the GOP does everything for the top 1% of income earners, when that goes against the majority of their constituents?
Doesn't make sense to me. How about you?
Double negative - classic razzle dazzle. People are seeing right through the Republican rhetoric this time dude. New strategy time I'd say.
Since you asked: NOTHING the Republicans are doing or have been doing for the entire term of Obama's Presidency makes sense until you pretend for a moment that YOU are amongst the wealthy. Ahh, now it makes sense. See what I mean? Too bad most of us are NOT rich and that the majority rules. Too bad for the Republican party (of which I am a member and hanging my head in abject shame)
Nice numbers; no basis in the reality most of us live.
One word - abbreviated - BS. At least the POTUS isn't. I rather keep with the steady as you go "Sulley" President, rather than a wannabe tea-party co-pilot who can't fly and bring us all down safely on the river.
Okay Mitt. We hear your goal. Now, how are you going to get there? Please explain how (more) tax cuts and less regulations are going to work for you when they failed to work for Bush 43 for eight years. Explain how taking a couple trillion dollars out of the U.S. economy is going to get it going better. Explain how losing another few hundred thousand state and local workers is going to make more jobs. BTW Mitt, when you and Rudy were yukking it up with those firefighters in NYC, did you tell them you think they're paid too much? No more confidence fairy, Mitt. How about some hard answers?
Im wondering what Romney knows now that he didn't when he was Governor of Massachusetts.He has such concern for us middle class people.
Chuckle yuk yuk guffaw. Concern for the middle class - ANY Republican? Good luck on finding that.
This sounds kinda like Newtie's standard of $2.50/gallon gas and a permanent U.S. base on the moon. Okay.