Economy Alarm: Geithner: Unemployment Rate Will Remain “Unacceptably High”

Geithner: Unemployment Rate Will Remain “Unacceptably High”

Despite Dems’ Stimulus Claims, Americans Suffer Under Jobless Recovery

Democrats Claim the Stimulus ‘Saved or Created’ Up to 2 Million Jobs Last Year and Promise to Reach 3.5 Million Jobs By the End of 2010

“The Obama administration, offering evidence that its much-maligned efforts to spur economic recovery have begun to take hold, said Tuesday that the $787-billion stimulus program saved or created 1.5 million to 2 million jobs last year… [Chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors Christina Romer] expressed confidence that the package of tax cuts and government spending — the largest of its kind in U.S. history — ultimately would fulfill President Obama’s promise of boosting employment by 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year.”  (Don Lee and Jim Tankersley, “White House credits stimulus,”  Los Angeles Times, 1/13/2010)

Credibility Crash: State Unemployment Rates Remain “Unacceptably High,” Jobless Recovery Drags On as November Elections Loom

The unemployment rate will remain “unacceptably high” for some time, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Thursday.

Geithner said that while the Obama administration had made great strides toward repairing the “huge amount of damage” the recession has done to businesses and families, there was still time ahead before the U.S. sees job growth.

“The economy’s growing now, that’s the first step,” Geithner said during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. “But the unemployment rate is still terribly high, and it’s going to stay unacceptably high for a long time.”

“It’s going to take a long period of time to bring it down because of the damage that was done,” the Treasury secretary added.

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Still, state unemployment rates have remained largely unchanged or even slightly higher, raising the specter of a jobless recovery in the short-term, the reverberations of which could be felt during this fall’s midterm elections.

Geithner said that the damage done by the financial crisis and recession had been severe, “And we’re going to be living with that damage for some time.” (Michael O’Brien, “Geithner: Unemployment will stay ‘unacceptably high’ for some time,” The Hill, 4/1/2010)

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