{"id":7403,"date":"2014-01-10T11:27:30","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T15:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncdata.wpengine.com\/?p=7403"},"modified":"2017-09-26T17:18:06","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T21:18:06","slug":"about-those-december-jobs-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalcenter.org\/ncppr\/2014\/01\/10\/about-those-december-jobs-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"About Those December Jobs Numbers\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
Even though only a meager number of jobs were created during the month of December and workforce participation fell, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics nonetheless says the official unemployment rate actually dropped at the end of 2013 to 6.7 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n Go figure.<\/p>\n Project 21<\/a> member Derryck Green<\/a>, in his monthly \u201cAbout Those Jobs Numbers\u2026\u201d report that always follows the government\u2019s unemployment announcement, figures there is no reason to celebrate the Obama Administration\u2019s math.\u00a0 He still sees tough economic times ahead in 2014:<\/p>\n Though it\u2019s a brand new year, it appears it\u2019s the same old story when it relates to jobs and the economy.<\/p>\n Unemployment, it would seem from the government\u2019s press release, slightly dipped to 6.7 percent<\/a>.<\/p>\n One thing that\u2019s for certain, regardless of the lower December unemployment rate, is that it isn\u2019t the result of enough jobs being created but more likely because more Americans are underworked or giving up hopes of ever finding work.\u00a0 That\u2019s evidenced by the 2.4 million people<\/a> considered to be only \u201cmarginally attached\u201d to the labor force.<\/p>\n Despite the jobless rate dropping a reported three-tenths of a percentage point, only 74,000 jobs were actually created in December.\u00a0 That\u2019s opposed to 203,000 jobs<\/a> created in November.\u00a0 Expectations were much higher.\u00a0 It\u2019s not even enough for these new workers to replace the natural workforce attrition rate.<\/p>\n This is the soft underbelly to any claim by the President\u2019s supporters that the economy has turned a corner under Barack Obama\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n For November and December, the \u201cU-6\u201d jobless rate that measures all of those out of work \u2014 including those who are underemployed and able but discouraged dropouts from the workforce \u2014 held stable at 13.1 percent<\/a>.\u00a0 Also, the workforce participation rate fell two-tenths of a percent (but not in a good way).\u00a0 Now, that rate is only 62.8 percent<\/a> \u2014 a figure that hasn\u2019t been so low since the Carter Administration.<\/p>\n And, while the official jobless rate is an allegedly better 6.7 percent, the President\u2019s key constituencies continue to suffer at a much higher rate.\u00a0 Black unemployment, for instance, is 11.9 percent<\/a> and black teen unemployment is a staggering 35.5 percent<\/a>.\u00a0 Hispanic unemployment is at 8.3 percent<\/a>.\u00a0 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these demographics \u201cshowed little change\u201d<\/a> while the overall rate fell.<\/p>\n There are several other indicators that demonstrate the American economy continues to be held captive by Obama\u2019s economic ineptitude:<\/p>\n Remember that this President constantly reminds people that the economy is allegedly now in a recovery.\u00a0 But it would seem to be the worst economic recovery in American history!<\/p>\n Also affecting the state of the economy are the various fees, taxes and penalties associated with ObamaCare \u2014 from the penalty of one percent of one\u2019s income (or $95, whichever is higher) for not being insured to increased premiums and deductibles that Americans are responsible to pay for allegedly better insurance plans Obama\u2019s health care mandate that people are forced into joining.\u00a0 These punitive penalties negatively affect the wallets of middle-class Americans because they forcibly take away money that could be spent in more productive ways \u2014 ways that could have demonstrated an increase in consumer confidence in the economy.<\/p>\n Forcing money from the American people against their will \u2014 in this case, for mandated health insurance \u2014 makes them poorer.\u00a0 No matter how the Obama Administration attempts to spin this ongoing catastrophe, redistribution is essentially stealing \u2014 regardless of how diligent efforts are to assign it with good intentions.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the plan of the man whose administration is in an executive and moral freefall?\u00a0 It\u2019s to extend unemployment benefits, increase the minimum wage, reduce income inequality and fight poverty with the creation of so-called \u201cpromise zones.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In other words, Obama reached for campaign gimmicks rather than serious economic policy. \u00a0It appears that there\u2019s no gray matter among the President\u2019s brain trust.<\/p>\n That the President is stoically begging Congress to extend unemployment benefits, again, is a tacit admission that the economic policies of his administration failed.\u00a0 His populist recovery strategy is covering over failure. \u00a0Is this even apparent to the President or his advisors?<\/p>\n The President seems to think that increasing the minimum wage is serious and sound economic policy.\u00a0 He said as much on January 7 when he said<\/a> that extending unemployment benefits \u201chelps the economy\u201d and \u201ccreates new jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n What? \u00a0How, exactly?<\/p>\n Again, this is a campaign issue and not a serious attempt at economic policy. \u00a0Just 2.6 percent<\/a> of American workers earned the minimum wage. \u00a0Not even three percent!<\/p>\n The President\u2019s approval ratings are in the basement \u2014 where many Millennials are coincidentally forced to live due to his economic stewardship \u2014 and he\u2019s focused on the minimum wage?\u00a0 What indicts the President is that data shows that increasing the minimum wages increases unemployment that has a detrimental effect on those who are in dire need of employment and work experience \u2014 namely the poor and black teenagers.\u00a0 Surely, Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowell, Arthur Laffer and Project 21\u2019s Horace Cooper<\/a> can\u2019t all be wrong.<\/p>\n\n