U.S. job creation far below expectations

[TrogL]

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/09/USjobless_040109

Job creation in the United States stalled in December as employers added only 1,000 employees to payrolls – far below the more than 100,000 new jobs that had been expected.

U.S. retailers resisted hiring workers for the holiday season. Employment in stores, malls and gas stations dipped by 38,000 in December. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector lost 26,000 jobs to continue a 41-month decline.

Despite the weak job creation figures, the U.S. unemployment rate eased to 5.7 per cent last month from November's 5.9 per cent. The U.S. Labor Department credited the drop to the fact that fewer people were actively looking for work.

The mind boggles. Lemme get this straight. "The unemployment rate dropped because less people were working for work." :crazy:

[opihimoimoi]

1. Something smells in Washington and its not luteifisk

Jobs Jobs Jobs, the Bush guys are flummoxed.

[fishguy]

2. But the tax cuts, the stock market, military spending....

[mouse7]

14. Come... we stand in the unemployment line together

We can share snack machine nabs and soda.

[are_we_united_yet]

41. That didn't sound like an American accent to me.

:)

[joeybee12]

3. I'm unemployed, but can't collect unemployment anymore, so I'm not

part of that 5.7%

The actual unemployment rate is close to 10%.

Jobs, jobs, jobs, HAS to be the Dem mantra this election, and Bush will be toast! (Ok, definitely, bland, whitebread toast).

[dawgman]

11. My UI rins out in four weeks...Don't know what I'll do then....

Well at least we live in interesting times...wait wasn't that an ancient chinese curse?

[lebkuchen]

4. "U.S. retailers resisted hiring workers for the holiday season."

That flies in the face of US mercantile tradition. Retailers must have really been hurting all year, and anticipating no quick fix in Dec.

[mmorriss]

5. i.e., The layoffs continue

One thousand jobs is barely measurable and I doubt the margin of error makes this number an accurate statistic.

What this really means is that the number of layoffs is about equal to the number of hires and those hires are in the low paying service sectors not manufacturing or IT where jobs continue to be shipped overseas.

So the 2.5 Million jobs lost since Bush took office are still gone and are probably not coming back unless "globalization" is reversed -- highly unlikely.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Economy.html?8br

[lebkuchen]

7. Greetings, mmorriss

1,000 jobs is as "barely measureable" as Bush's presidency is "vaguely bareable."

Everything about this presidency is interestingly flawed. What's even more shocking about these stats is not how much Americans expect from Bush, but how little.

[Sideways]

27. ShitHowdy That Is My Fucking Battle Cry Lebkuchen HOW LITTLE?

The bar has been set so low for this fucking pissy whank that when really horrible labor stats come out people fucking hypnotized by the media aren't howling in the streets because they are dusting it off as a burp in a political cycle.

Bull Fucking Shit. 1000 jobs instead of 150,000 jobs. And this is just the tip of the unemployment iceberg.

Hold this putrid little fucks feet to the god damn flames. He deserves the fallout of his fucking illicit wars and fucking tax breaks to the rich.

Hey Bush the buck really stopped here with you...ASSHOLE.

[Skittles]

39. Mary T, sweetheart

YOU SPEAK MY LANGUAGE. :thumbsup:

[hatrack]

6. Here's something to chew on

If the "recovery" only produces 1,000 new jobs in December, during the peak retail season, what are we going to be looking at for January, February and March? Something tells me it's going to be pretty damned ugly.

[Zech Marquis]

48. if this was the so called recovery

this economy is in seriously deep SHIT :hurts:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

8. Spin this into something good, "Boy Genius"

That's the one piece of data that won't go away, no matter how much the "sizzling upturn in the economy" spin-meisters want it to. If we are in the middle of a "recovery" right now, it is a "jobless recovery" that includes a lot of people sitting on the sidelines, chipping away at whatever resources they have and playing a waiting game. Bush has gotten a lot of press by saying that he doesn't read the papers, that he gets his news from his "advisors" and the only thing he misses by doing that is "the opinion." Great. We know the "advisor" is usually Karl Rove, the "Boy Genius" and "The Man With The Plan." We know that when Bush announced his immigration proposal the other day and said that it was in response to filling jobs that "Americans don't want" and these jobs would be an opportunity for immigrants who "want to meet their responsibilities as wage-earners of their families," it was essentially Rove saying "look, the jobs are there, you don't WANT them, up YOURS." So it will be interesting to see what he does with these reports. My guess is that it will be nothing, he just won't acknowledge them and will continue to trumpet every little NASDAQ spike. Maybe it's time for Shrub to read a paper. They have comics and everything, he might actually enjoy it.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

10. Are you in league with the terrorists?

Do you hate our freedom?
You might have well just flown the planes into the WTC yourself, buddy.
Get back to Russia!}(

On edit - Welcome to DU, Bush_Eats_Beef.

[Maine-i-acs]

17. Bush Eats Beef! Welcome!

Nice to keep seeing fresh faces at DU! Like your comments!

[lovedems]

9. The US Labor Dept?

The U.S. Labor Department credited the drop to the fact that fewer people were actively looking for work.

The same people who just issued a report telling employers how to not pay overtime? After all the numbers from this administration; the cost of war, the tax cuts, the estate tax, etc.etc.etc. WHY WOULD ANYONE BELIEVE THE NUMBERS THAT COME FROM THIS GOVERNMENT????? It boggles my mind! What kinds of jobs are people resorting to? Stores? Malls? Gas stations? My husband has been unemployed for just over a year and one of those jobs wouldn't come close to providing adequate income. As long as * keeps his big contributors happy, I guess the rest of us can eat crackers for the rest of his pResidency.

[dawgman]

12. That's where I'm at as well. Forty weeks unemployed and

not one single prospective possibility. There are just so many people looking for work. Every job I interview for has about 200 other candidates....

[lovedems]

23. Consider yourself lucky then

because in Illinois, my husband can't even find an employer to send his resume to! You ought to get on the DNC website. They are asking for your personal story regarding how your life has been effected becasue of * crappy policies. Being a stay at home mom of 4, homeowner, unemployed husband, loss of healthcare, I had a long one.

[underpants]

13. Graph!

[Sentath]

38. Jobs change VS Population change

so Xthousand jobs at the close of the year 2002

X + 160 - 120 - 150 - 20 - 75 - 80 - 55 + 75 + 100 + 140 + 55 + 1
=
X + 31thousand jobs at the close of 2003.

Anyone know how many people joined the workforce during 2003?

'Cause I'd bet you that 31K jobs didn't even soak up the net change in a lightly populated state like OK. But, I'd like to be able to back that up...

[SidDithers]

15. As a comparison...

Economy Pumps out Jobs

<snip>

In the final month of the year, the Canadian job market – which had stalled for much of the early part of 2003 – added a surprising 53,100 jobs. That marked the fourth consecutive month of employment growth in this country and far exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts.

<snip>

Sid

[trogdor]

18. I heard they're actually looking for US IT people.

...in Nova Scotia.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

16. Anyone else see this thread -

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=997328&mesg_id=997328

Hmmmmm.

[bemildred]

19. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...

Thanks, that was rich.

[SidDithers]

20. heheh,

that's pretty funny.

Sid

[lovedems]

24. Yet another example of Wall Street being out of touch with Main Street.

Sorry but, when I see a 22% increase in profits, Wall Street can kiss my butt.

[DrBB]

31. Yup--I was among those who weighed in to say

...that even the best months we've had job-wise are FAR short of what would be required to keep pace with the incredible losses since the anti-humans seized power. Soon as I heard the job report on NPR this a.m. I thought of that thread--ready to eat crow yet David_REE (41 posts)?

[yellowcanine]

32. Oh yeah, the old "friend on Wall Street" source

That should have been a clue right there that the poster was blowing smoke. First of all for the "friend on Wall Street" to get that kind of information ahead of time would be a major breach of Federal law on the part of some Labor Dept employee. And second - if one did have a "friend on Wall Street" or in the White House, or whereever, and they were putting insider info on a internet forum, that "friend" would no longer be a friend, imo. Laughable.

[Jackpine Radical]

49. Yeah, I was thinking of that thread too when I heard the news.

Nothing like these guys with 5 posts that are always coming around with tidbits of "demoralizing good news" about the economy or the war or whatever that's sure to get Shrub re-elected.

[ramapo]

21. Who were the lucky 1000?

Somebody should get together 1000 people who found jobs in December. Could be a great picture. Here's the best that our economic recovery could manage!

Thanks, GWB! Good job....

[Screaming Lord Byron]

22. don't worry, as soon as the draft comes back, these figures will drop

[Lorien]

50. I know an UNlucky 1000

that's about the number of employees laid off last month when Disney closed our traditional animation studios. They STILL aren't officially "letting them go"-though their last paychecks come next week. Most are looking for jobs in live action film, or retail. There are no future films on the boards. Do they get counted yet as "unemployed"? I don't know...:-(

[NeoConsSuck]

25. American Corporations *ARE* creating jobs!!

in China, India, Brazil.

[moondust]

28. That's why this "recovery" is different than past ones.

Pundits keep trying to use the old model to say that everything is rosy and jobs are the last to bounce back. That's how it was before massive outsourcing of everything.

[Fovea]

26. Sadly I was right

Our economy has so little core industry to actually sustain activity
through the period where invigorating new job growth catches up with new demand.

But this is all paper market growth, and while the investing class was making money in the market, the market is not the economy. Keep saying that until it actually makes sense...

The Market is not the Economy.

We sacrificed the industrial economy to build a knowledge economy, which we pulled away from because we feared an educated America and we didnt want to cut into profit for all that square stuff. So know we are losing what actual market domination we had, for what?

Walmart, that's what. And three years into Bush's torpedoing of the IT economy, we cannot even sustain the Walmart service economy. Does anyone but me see what this means for Bush? It means that despite a ruinous amount of money being spent, the economy refuses to rise.

That is because of how the money is being spent. We have exhausted several key factors of our society, Health care, Education, Transportation, and Industrial soundness and are spending the money needed to improve them on fantasy league empire building. In a decade we will be where the Soviet Union was in 1980 -- dead on its feet.


No one has ever asked the question -- What would a world wide depression look like in the age of nuclear proliferation?
I submit that George Bush may well give us that unpretty answer to that question. I fear that this is the brink at this very moment in time. And that we will feel the slide hard on into February.

We can run who ever we want for president and win if we have a whole quarter like this, job wise. The market cannot sustain in the face of this news. This is awful and tragic, and it IS GW Bush's fault.

I think that globalization needs to be re thought in light of regional economic stability, restoration of stable regional economies as a foundation for globalism, and re establishing human concerns to their proper place over corporate profit.

[maxsolomon]

34. OBL is cackling in his cave

his goal was to destroy our economy, and thereby free islam from its fascinatino with our corrupt culture. who'd a-thunk we'd have the perfect plutocratic administration to help him achieve his ends?

when you export jobs, you help the terrorists.

[Buns_of_Fire]

29. Dontcha just feel all WARM

with all that trickling-down that's happening? Tell ya what, boosh -- don't do us any more favors, OK?

[AndyTiedye]

33. The Fundies and Robber Barons Had Reason to Fear an Educated America

> We sacrificed the industrial economy to build a knowledge economy,
> which we pulled away from because we feared an educated America

an enducated America won't believe everything they see on TV.
an educated America won't vote Republican!

[Thor_MN]

37. That warm stuff from the trickle-down folk is urine....

The people at the top don't care who they piss on.

[DrBB]

30. And then there's the new "guest worker" program

Yup, the idea is simple: all benefits to corporations and the top 1% of incomes; meanwhile kick the legs out from under regular salaried workers and wage earners--bankrupt or privatize "safety net" programs, and a flood of cheap labor coming into the country to keep wages low at the bottom end of the job market even as knowledge-based jobs go offshore at the upper end. Keep 'em scared and desperate and overworked and underpaid. And while we're at it, let's eliminate overtime pay too.

Any questions?

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. This is a cheap labor conservative

wet dream... cheap labor that will not complaint

[Fleshdancer]

36. Did the stock market drop when the news hit today?

Bush's puppetmaster is stupid. One would think that Bush would have waited for these numbers to come out BEFORE rolling out his new immigration plan. To say Americans don't want particular jobs at a time when we're producing only 1,000 jobs is politically STUPID.

This just goes to show that they were overly confident about the job creation numbers and when they get overly confident, they do stupid things...Mission Accomplished, Fake Turkey, etc.

[T Bone]

43. Yes the stock market was dropping around noontime on this news

I was at CBS marketwatch today around noon and their headline item at that time was the market was dropping on this pitiful job creation news !! Bu$h is a uniter alright. The stock market united in a sell off on this news.

[osaMABUSh]

40. 1,000 new jobs that is "pitiful and pathetic" - Gephardt

1,000 jobs in the entire USA - incredibly bad.

When pushing for tax cuts earlier this year, Bush promised his proposals would create 300,000 jobs a month.

[T Bone]

42. I bet seasonal employment rose even during the Hoover Administration

I bet even Herbert Hoover's economy created more jobs at Christmas time than Bush's. The way they lie, I doubt it was even a thousand. They probably lost a hundred thousand. How would we know with so many people dropping out of the statistical watch due to the expiration of their unemployment benefits ?

And to top it off -- Bush wants to legitimize the hiring of illegal aliens at sub-minimum wages to drive down the wage expectations of all Americans. Unbelievable. Well it would be unbelievable anywhere but Bush's sad-assed America.

[4dsc]

44. The best in 20 years....

I thought our economy was the best its been in 20 years???

[qanda]

45. Someone called me tonight trying to sell a coupon book

In past years my husband and I have purchased the book, mainly because it helps high school students. When I told the lady who called that my husband has been laid off and we won't be able to participate this year, she told me that a lot of people she called have been laid off. She seemed puzzled as to why this trend existed and I was able to give her a little left hook, so to speak.

[qanda]

46. Posted twice for some unknown reason

eom

[Zech Marquis]

47. what jobs?

I haven't seen anything to consider looking at, beyond the McJobs of course :eyes:

[MikeG]

51. You have to believe in the tax cuts for them to work.

Ye of little faith!!