White House greets jobless numbers with caution
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The Obama administration greeted the unemployment numbers released Friday with the same refrain it has used in past months: Increased job creation is good news, but there is much to be done to bring down a poor unemployment rate.
In a post on the White House blog, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, laid the groundwork on which President Obama is expected to build his remarks later Friday morning.
While today’s report clearly suggests that we are moving in the right direction, it also shows how much work remains to be done. The unemployment rate is painfully high, and payroll employment is still nearly 8 million below its level at the start of the recession. It will take many months of robust job growth to restore the labor market to genuine health. Further targeted actions to spur private sector job creation are critically needed to ensure a more rapid, widespread recovery.
The increase in jobs by 290,000, the largest one-month gain since March 2006, is good political news. And the increase in the unemployment rate to 9.9% can be explained by optimistic workers moving back into the jobs market and not yet finding work.
The proof of the positive nature of the numbers came from Republicans who praised the report.
“An employment report that shows job growth is always a good thing, period,” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia said in a statement.
Cantor went on to question whether the jobs that are being created are long-term positions. He also criticized what he called the Democrats’ “spend-now, pay-later governing philosophy.”
To be sure, there are other problems on the horizon and the biggest one remains what to do about Greece.
‘I look at the horrible images coming out of Greece and I am struck by the reality of what can happen when a country goes on a shopping spree without paying its bills. Thank goodness America is not at that point. We have time to right the ship and get serious about tackling our own debt crisis. But we have to start now. Until we do, sustainable- job growth may not be possible,” Cantor stated.
--Michael Muskal
