The U.S. economy continued to lose jobs last month as small gains in the private sector failed to offset big cuts in government workers, pointing to a still sluggish recovery.
Private-sector employers added only 64,000 jobs in September, the Labor Department said Friday. Overall, nonfarm payrolls fell by 95,000 as temporary census workers were let go and state and local governments also cut employment.
he U.S. labor market remains in the doldrums 15 months after the recession ended. That could hurt Democrats in mid-term elections Nov. 2 and is likely to lead the Federal Reserve to take new steps to jump-start the economy at its next meeting Nov. 2-3. The September data was the last jobs report before these two key events.
too bad you did not link the Reuters story, which for the umpteenth time used the word: “unexpectedly”
and here is a journal: http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/?s=unexpectedly
And think how many jobs would have been lost if we had not spent all that money. We are actually saving jobs that would have been lost. Unfortunately, a lot of folks believe this.
Unexpected cuts in government jobs?
not many believe it #3, you’ll see on Nov. 2 clear evidence of that.
Pb, unfortunately it is true. The figures would be much, much worse if it had not been for the stimulus. As many economists said at the time, it was too little.
John316, some of the government job cuts (e.g., census workers) were expected. That accounts for 48% of the September government “layoffs.” 36% were teachers. 16% were state and local employees: e.g. police, fire fighters, garbage collectors and the like. Of course, in Texas Perry is running around to Tea Party rallies claiming all is well. Of course, he wants the federal money intended to keep teachers in the classroom, so he can tap state education funds to fuel his enterprise fund to pay off his buddies.
Nope — the figures would be distinctly better without the government bailouts, endless re-upping of unemployment, TARP, health [sic] care [sic] reform [sic], massive new coal-environmental and other environmental regulations, other additional rules and regs, etc, etc.
The reason for that is that 1) the badly run companies would be out of business, 2) the consumers would have gone over to the well-run companies, 3) businesses would have gained in customers, 4) there would be little to no uncertainty about the massive further governmental interference, 5) even more expensive rules and regs would not be causing companies to squirrel away their money to save for paying for all of the State’s new money-costing interferences, and thus 6) employment would be significantly higher than it is today.
But we’ll never have that demonstrated now — and those who believe in the collectivist ideal will say one way, and those who believe in free enterprise and living within the limits that our Constitution prescribed will say another way about what the future might have been.
Thankfully, I think I know what the voters will say.
Gallup yesterday reported that the government would understate the actual unemployment rate. The actual rate, as computed by Gallup, is 10.1%.
Sarah, as Aslan told the children, we cannot know what would have happened, but we can know what will happen.
Most economists indicate that had there been no TARP or stimulus unemployment, bankruptcies (both business and personal), Gross Domestic Product would have been much worse. Yes, major banks and major industries would have gone belly up taking millions more people with them into extreme poverty. No one would have the “capital” to replace the failed businesses and banks. We would have entered a Greater Depression.
You can fantasize all you want, but your fantasy is surely no better than the fantasy of economists.
Wow Sarah — and people accuse [i]me[/i] of living in a fantasy world!
The explanations of the wonders of TARP always remind me of the guy that used to work on my poor ole Nissan pick up in Baton Rouge. He would launch into all this techncial jargon about how I was within an inch of having the whole thing fall apart and it was surely my lucky day that I had driven into his shop so he could save me.
Obama and so many others acted like 2007 was the first time in the history of the world that we had a bubble burst. And so they spun this great story of how we had to act NOW to avert a CRISIS.
And just like with Enron, the Ruling Class uses the issue (remember, never waste a crisis!) to spin more webs of regulation to extend government power.
Federal Government power would be drastically cut if two things were to happen:
1. Every American received his/her full paycheck and had to write a monthly check to the IRS and SSA.
2. Every checkout slip or invoice spelled out the cost of goods, sales tax due, and costs due to Government Regulations.
The brilliance of the Progressives is to hide all this from view so that we just get boiled to death degree by degree. Nothing like a hot scalding to focus people’s attention.
RE: “Yes, major banks and major industries would have gone belly up taking millions more people with them into extreme poverty.”
Yes, yes — The End of the World as We Know It! PANIC!!! ; > )
RE: “You can fantasize all you want, but your fantasy is surely no better than the fantasy of economists. . . . ”
Mmmmmm . . .
RE: “Wow Sarah—and people accuse me of living in a fantasy world!”
Nah — just a collectivist one.
But see . . . that’s why this country is utterly divided. We simply don’t share the same foundational political worldview and it leads to the above interesting exchanges and opinings.
And neither side will blink.
It’s understandable that we’re in such immense conflict.
So it will be up to the voters as to which ideology wins, every few years.
C’est la vie.
RE: “Nothing like a hot scalding to focus people’s attention.”
Well — *some* people’s, anyway.
Some say, compar’d to Bononcini
That Mynheer Handel’s but a Ninny
Others aver, that he to Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a Candle
Strange all this Difference should be
‘Twixt Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee!
; > )
Wait a minute. Private sector employment was UP. Government employment was what went down. Both of these are good things. Public sector jobs generate wealth and economic growth. Government sector jobs destroy wealth by consuming taxpayer dollars and create a drag on economic growth. No wonder the market went up today. Investors can see through this baloney.
RE: “Yes, yes—The End of the World as We Know It! PANIC!!!”
Oh no, not at all. It is heartening to see that there is such radical division in the country — just as it is heartening to see it in TEC. Means there’s still hope. The time to PANIC — [only for Constitutional conservatives, of course] — would be if there were no division. The best attitude [again, only for the Constitutional conservatives] is to note and observe the division with calmness and a sense of relief.
So no need to panic at all . . . it’s good news to see that there is still such a significant portion of the populace that is interested in liberty and the limitations on government that our Constitution enacted.
Rejoice! ; > )
(I try to calm down my Tea Party work colleague (he speaks at Tea Party events) every day – but I must admit that I enjoy spinning him up, too.)
RE: “Rejoice!” ; > )
Well, it’s pretty nice — but mostly I feel calm and relieved.
We’re in a battle of ideologies and it will go on for a long time.
RE: the Tea Party.
Then you know one more tea partier than I do . . . That makes me suspicious of your street cred . . .
Uncle Sam chooses who I work with. He would totally identify himself as a “Constitutional conservative”; with no love for either party. And he’s got a PhD and ran for Senate a few years ago; both of which he can’t help but remind people of regularly. I disagree with most of his politcal views, but, for some strange reason, he seems to like me anyway.
[blockquote]Wait a minute. Private sector employment was UP. Government employment was what went down. Both of these are good things. Public sector jobs generate wealth and economic growth. Government sector jobs destroy wealth by consuming taxpayer dollars and create a drag on economic growth. No wonder the market went up today. Investors can see through this baloney.[/b]
Please do not confuse them with facts. They relish gloom and doom. If they have their way, there will be more gloom and doom.
My IRA is up almost enough to cover the entire Minimum Required Distribution–on track for a 6% growth. Another investment portfolio is up by nearly 6% since June. (And none of it is in invested in gold.) I’m more concerned that we are in a “bubble;” the market trends have been upward since the spring of ’09.
Recovery from the Great Bush Recessions is slow, but that is to be expected. The Republican obstinacy is doing more to unsettle business and hiring than anything.
[blockquote] Public sector jobs generate wealth and economic growth. Government sector jobs destroy wealth by consuming taxpayer dollars and create a drag on economic growth. No wonder the market went up today.[/blockquote]
Government employees spend their money just like public sector employees. Government contractors spend their money just like public sector employees.
In Texas we have many, many small towns. Many of them had/have an independent school district. It turns out that in these towns the public school was/is the town’s largest employer. For reasons of economy, the state has for years been closing these districts down, forcing the busing of the town’s children to larger schools.
The effect is to kill the small town. Since school employees move away to find work elsewhere, local business shut down–the bank closes, the grocery store closes, the filling station closes, etc. And those establishments’ owners-workers move away too. The town becomes a ghost town.