Stop Spinning, Mr. President: Labor Force Participation Still in the Toilet

Unlike some Republicans we know, Save Jerseyans, Mitt Romney did the right thing today by calling the Department of Labor’s bluff.

I’m fed up and I know some of you are, too. The Obama Administration’s repeated attempts to spin absolutely abysmal job reports as “good” news don’t jibe with reality. We’ve discussed what these new numbers really mean (and don’t mean) right here at Save Jersey, but the Mittster is on a role as of late and the 10/5/12 statement below is no exception.

Preach it:

This is not what a real recovery looks like. We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we’ve lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office. If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11%. The results of President Obama’s failed policies are staggering – 23 million Americans struggling for work, nearly one in six living in poverty and 47 million people dependent on food stamps to feed themselves and their families. The choice in this election is clear. Under President Obama, we’ll get another four years like the last four years. If I’m elected, we will have a real recovery with pro-growth policies that will create 12 million new jobs and rising incomes for everyone.”

The ONLY thing Mitt’s wrong about? He shouldn’t reference U-3 unemployment because it’s also an incomplete picture of how bad things truly are in the job market. The real unemployment number (U-6), which includes the under-employed (e.g. a former full-time engineer who was laid off and is currently working part-time as a substitute math teacher) is closer to 14 or 15%.

President Obama’s recovery isn’t anything like President Reagan’s, when the U.S. unemployment rate (based on filed unemployment claims) dipped due to mass re-employment. Nope. Obama’s rate is dipping because (1) Americans are simply giving up or (2) obtaining crappier/only part-time positions, and that’s certainly nothing for anyone in government to brag about!

h/t /AEIdeas:

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.