Obama's "Recovery Summer" Ends With 283,000 Fewer Jobs

With summer drawing to an end, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the August employment numbers today, showing that the jobless situation is little changed from June and in some aspects is worse. According to BLS, 54,000 jobs were lost in August, while the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.6%. Sadly, 14.9 million Americans remain out of work.

Back in June, the White House dubbed this “Recovery Summer.” CNN wrote at the time, “Vice President Joe Biden . . . helps kick off what the White House calls ‘Recovery Summer,’ a six week long push to highlight what the administration says will be jobs created this summer and fall by a surge in federal stimulus spending across the country.” Just a month ago, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wrote in The New York Times, “Welcome to the Recovery.”

Unfortunately, it’s been a summer of dismal economic news. There are 283,000 fewer jobs now than when “Recovery Summer” was declared. Just last week, the AP reported, “The economy turns out to be weaker than we thought, and the outlook for the rest of the year is now looking dimmer. New figures issued Friday show the economy struggled this spring, growing at a meager 1.6 percent annual pace. The initial estimate was 2.4 percent, and even that was anemic.” Also last week, The Wall Street Journal reported, “Existing-home sales plunged to their lowest level in 15 years in July as inventories soared, painting a grim picture for the housing market absent government support in a stubbornly sluggish economy.” A month ago, Bloomberg News reported, “The number of Americans who are receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in May as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high . . . .” In July, the Los Angeles Times reported that American home foreclosures “hit a record high in the second quarter.”

This is why so few Americans are inclined to take President Obama’s assurance this morning that “[W]e are moving forward because of the steps that we’ve taken.” A recent Gallup poll found 59% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy. And CBS News pointed out last week, “Americans are more pessimistic about the country’s economy than they were last month . . . . Thirty-four percent now say the economy is getting worse, up from 26 percent [in July]. Only 20 percent now say the economy is getting better, according to the poll, conducted Aug. 20 - 24.”

Clearly there’s been little to no “recovery” during this summer and Americans are frustrated. Obama's "Recovery Summer" Ends With 283,000 Fewer Jobs!

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