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Friday, October 21, 2016

Working Minds Essay #109: Explaining Flat U.S. Job Growth



The Republicans continue to blame President Obama, but the entire G.O.P. Economic Meltdown took place in 2008, before Barack Obama became President in January 2009.

The U.S. economy got better immediately upon passage of the Democratic Party's Stimulus Package in early 2009, which the Republicans continue to work at cancelling.

As you can see on the chart here, job creation has been positive since Obama's first month in office, every single month.

The problem though is the Republican Congress and their promise to prevent any legislation proposed by Obama or the Democrats. So no jobs have been created by fixing our decrepit infrastructure, no stimulus for the alternative energy industry (both an economic and an energy solution), no pressure brought to bear on Wall Street or the megabanks to provide loans for small or medium businesses, while big business resists hiring new workers (in the U.S.).

The key fact left out of all the news for these seven years is that the U.S. economy needs 250,000 jobs each month to keep up with population growth. This is why the Obama Administration rightfully reports jobs created each month in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 – quite an accomplishment given the fierce opposition – and the jobless rate remains between 4 and 5 percent (and 15% for minorities and 25% for teens and 50% for Native Americans).

President Obama's hands are tied, Congress does absolutely nothing, Republicans sue the Supreme Court to reverse Obama's Executive Orders, and the economy remains dire for the Middle Class and the Working Poor.
Copyright 2016 by G.E. Nordell, all rights reserved

Side Note: This is posting #350 on this blog.

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