United Liberty

AKA “The Only Scandal Conservatives Need”

Executive Summary:

• 69,000 jobs added (That’s far too weak for even a piddling recovery)
• +.1% unemployment, up to 8.2%
• 12.7 million Americans unemployed
• +.2% to civilian labor force participation, up to 63.8
• 8.1 million Americans employed just part-time for economic reasons
• 2.4 million Americans marginally attached to the labor force
• 830,000 discouraged workers
• March and April job increases revised downwards
• Sure path to Obama’s defeat in November

The May jobs report has just been released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics…and it’s awful. It’s one of the weakest reports all year, and has shown quite clearly that the “Hope N’ Change” policies of President Obama are not working. According to the BLS press release:

Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in May (+69,000), and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in health care, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade but declined in construction. Employment was little changed in most other major industries.

Household Survey Data

Both the number of unemployed persons (12.7 million) and the unemployment rate (8.2 percent) changed little in May. (See table A-1.)

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.8 percent) and Hispanics (11.0 percent) edged up in May, while the rates for adult women (7.4 percent), teenagers (24.6 percent), whites (7.4 percent), and blacks (13.6 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.2 percent in May (not seasonally adjusted), down from 7.0 percent a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose from 5.1 to 5.4 million in May. These individuals accounted for 42.8 percent of the unemployed. (See table A-12.)

Note that the unemployment rate was 8.1% last month. Although a .1% uptick does not sound like much, it will be hyped by conservatives and Republicans, and it will be noted by the average voter, who will be able to say with a straight face, “Yes, unemployment did go up under Obama this year.”

The next paragraph, however, is the real killer:

The civilian labor force participation rate increased in May by 0.2 percentage point
to 63.8 percent, offsetting a decline of the same amount in April. The employment-population ratio edged up to 58.6 percent in May. (See table A-1.)

One of the main reasons that the unemployment rate has been lower than the last couple of years is because millions of Americans just stopped looking for work. When you just give up, you’re not counted as “unemployed,” and the Bureau of Labor Statistics can revise that number downward. That’s still not recovery, though, no matter what Obama may say, and that’s a datapoint that should be hammered on extensively because of how shameful it is.

Now, though, the rate is going upward…which means the unemployment rate will also increase. If the trend continues, and more Americans start looking for work again—particularly between July and October—the unemployment rate may shoot up over 9%. That will mean certain defeat for Obama, and an end to this failed economic policy that has done nothing but put us—and our children—more in debt.

So, Obama fans…how is that “Hope N’ Change” working out for ya?