Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says that the latest unemployement numbers – the national rate jumped to 10.2% in October – prove that President Barack Obama was wrong when he said earlier this year that the stimulus package would prevent unemployment from rising above 8%. (:34)
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says that the fact that the national unemployment rate is now at 10.2% shows that President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, passed earlier this year, is still not working to create jobs. (:17)
By Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats Friday of mishandling the U.S. economy following the Labor Department’s announcement that unemployment has hit 10.2%,
“Today’s report is yet another reminder that American families and small businesses are still struggling, and the White House response is falling short,” said Boehner.
Boehner pointed to failed promises and exorbitant spending, citing the Democrats’ health care reform bill and stimulus plan as steps that will plunge the U.S. further into debt.
“Since the stimulus plan was signed into law, more than three million private sector jobs have been lost,” said Boehner “Now, Speaker Pelosi is pressing ahead with a $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care, endorsed by President Obama, that will destroy 5.5 million jobs according to methodology developed by his own senior economist.”
Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Following Friday’s announcement that unemployment has reached 9.8 percent, Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall told the Joint Economic Committee Friday that while the U.S. economy is still in bad shape, it is at beginning to stabilize.
“We have moved into a normal recession… we really did have a six-month period that was unprecedented,” said Hall. “This particular recession was so broad and deep.”
Hall added that the U.S. is slowly making a recovery in the manufacturing sector, explaining that it has expanded for the second consecutive month.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) responded to Hall by making it clear that the American economy is still hurting.
“The sky is falling… We can not be overly optimistic, but we need to call it like it is,” Said Cummings.
Rep. Kevin Bradley (R- Texas) was quick to the blame the Obama administration’s use of TARP funds as an inhibitor to the economy.
“The unpredictability of government is the new invisible hand of the market. It is slowing the recovery- discouraging companies from making decisions that could lead to rehiring old workers and hiring new ones,” Brady said.
All panel members offered their condolences toward Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) whose husband recently passed away.
Despite continued job loss, unemployment moderation in the past three months is a “good sign,” says Keith Hall, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “While I would say we’re not in recovery yet, this is the path that we have to go through to get to recovery. We expect to see moderation first before we start actually getting improvement in the labor market,” he says. (0:27)
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner, Keith Hall, says that minorities and the uneducated continue to suffer the most job losses, a trend that parallels unemployment statistics prior to the recession. “The trend is pretty much the same,” Hall says. “When the overall unemployment rate goes up, it goes up by more for the minorities.” (0:18)
Despite positive signs of economic recovery, “the rate of job loss remains high and the unemployment rate has continued its steep rise,” says Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. “Job insecurity, together with declines in home values and tight credit, is likely to limit gains in consumer spending,” he said. (0:21)
By Mariko Lamb – Talk Radio News Service
The pace of economic decline has shown signs of gradual stabilization since April, but the labor market continues to weaken, said Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke during testimony before the House Committee on Financial Services Tuesday.
“Many of the improvements in financial conditions can be traced, in part, to policy actions taken by the Federal Reserve to encourage the flow of credit,” he said. Federal Reserve recovery programs such as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and the Supervisory Capital Assessment Program (SCAP), both implemented this year, have restarted classes of small business and consumer securitization markets, increased investor confidence in the U.S. banking system, and raised equity in public markets.
Despite better conditions in financial markets and optimistic economic prospects, the unemployment rate continues to rise. “Although the unemployment rate is projected to peak at the end of this year, the projected declines in 2010 and 2011 would still leave unemployment well above FOMC participants’ views of the longer-run sustainable rate,” Bernanke said.
Further Federal Reserve and Reserve Bank projections indicate “subdued” inflation over the next two years, a slight increase in output at the end of this year, and a gradual recovery starting in 2010 with some acceleration in 2011.
To quell GOP committee members’ concerns about the Federal Reserve’s extensive intervention in monetary policy, Bernanke said, “The extraordinary policy measures we have taken in response to the financial crisis and the recession can be withdrawn in a smooth and timely manner as needed.”
Bernanke emphasized that the Federal Reserve is a non-partisan, independent organization and does not get involved in details of specific policy programs such as healthcare; however, he urged Congress to “think about the implications of the federal budget and make sure that we have a trajectory that will be sustainable for the medium term.”
By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service
A senior administration official from Vice President Biden’s office discusses how the recession has been broad-based. The Recovery Act’s programs are helping areas that have higher unemployment rates. (0:50)
by Christina Lovato, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
“Today’s numbers underline the need to act, and to act now.” said Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) at a Joint Economic Committee hearing today.
Today, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the unemployment rate has risen from 7.2 to 7.6 percent and according to other figures released, 3.6 million jobs have been lost since the recession began in December 2007, including the nearly 600,000 jobs lost in January only.
Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) was particularly alarmed from the minority unemployment statistics expressing that, “As bad as this recession has been overall for all Americans it has had a particularly disproportionate adverse effect on African Americans and Latinos.” Since the start of the recession, December, 2007, the unemployment rate for African-Americans has gone from 8.9 to 12.6 percent and for Latino’s it has risen from 6.2 to 9.7 percent.
The sectors of education and healthcare have maintained relative stability and there has been a job growth seen in those areas. There was a rise in jobs in education and that area has gained 39,000 jobs and in healthcare there has been a growth of 19,000 jobs. In the past three months the motor vehicle and parts industry has lost 75,000 jobs in the major auto producing states.
Chairwoman Maloney ended her opening statement by discussing the economic recovery package. “Alarm bells are sounding and our economic recovery package must make its way to the President as soon as possible. The current economic crisis requires bold solutions that address the magnitude of our economic woes, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will do just that.” she said.
