ZERO

Abysmal Jobs Report Punctures Democrat Claim That They’re “Adding Jobs Every Month”

• The abysmal jobs report out Friday fell below expectations as the economy netted zero new jobs for the first time since 1945.
• The number is an enormous rebuke to Democrats who, in addition to claiming they’ve “turned the economy around,” have taken to celebrating the embarrassingly small jobs additions of the last several months as evidence of the success of their policies.
• Even as these new jobs numbers render a harsh verdict on Democrats’ failed, job-destroying policies, Democrats are preparing to unveil more of the same next week. 

BACKGROUND 

The abysmal jobs report out Friday fell below expectations as the economy netted zero new jobs for the first time since 1945:

AUGUST JOBS REPORT: ZERO NEW JOBS, FIRST TIME SINCE FEBRUARY 1945 THAT ECONOMY HAS HAD “MONHTLY NET JOB CHANGE OF ZERO”: “Unemployment remained unchanged in August as employers added no new jobs for the first time since World War II, the Department of Labor reported Friday morning. The disappointing numbers will add pressure on President Obama to do more to stimulate hiring, which has been in a funk since the financial crisis began three years ago.

“Economists had been expecting 93,000 new jobs last month, down from 117,000 in July. The unemployment rate stayed, as expected, at 9.1 percent. The fact that no net new jobs were added in August was yet another dose of bad news for the economy. It’s the first time since February 1945 that the government has reported a monthly net job change of zero.” (Lyneka Little and Bill McGuire, “U.S. Employers Added No New Jobs in August,” ABC News, 9/2/2011) 

WHITE HOUSE REPORT: UNEMPLOYMENT ABOVE 9% THROUGH 2012. (Erik Wasson, “White House Downgrades Job Growth Forecast for 2012,” The Hill, 9/1/2011)

The number is an enormous rebuke to Democrats who, in addition to claiming they’ve “turned the economy around,” have taken to celebrating the embarrassingly small jobs additions of the last several months as evidence of the success of their policies: 

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: “[W]e’re adding jobs every month. … [T]here isn’t any doubt –we’re moving in the right direction.” (“Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden at Recovery Act Innovation Report Event,” The White House, 8/24/2011) 

DNC CHAIR WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “WE’VE BEEN ADDING JOBS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOR 17 STRAIGHT MONTHS. WE ARE ON THE UPSWING EVER SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE.” (Anthony Man, “Wasserman Schultz Blasts Republicans, Defends Obama, Tears Up on Social Security,” The Sun Sentinel, 8/29/2011)

TOP WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIST AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: “IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS WE’VE ADDED A MILLION JOBS. THE PRESIDENT’S PLAN – THERE IS A PLAN AND IT HAS BEEN WORKING.” (Josh Gerstein, “Goolsbee on Jobs: ‘One Month is Not a Trend,'”Politico, 6/5/2011) 

DNC CHAIR REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: “Well, I’m proud of the President’s record as are Democrats and middle-class Americans across the country.” (Remarks from Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”, 8/13/2011)

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: OBAMA “TURN[ED] THIS ECONOMY AROUND”: “We were able to, under President Obama’s leadership, turn this economy around.” (Remarks from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, NBC’s Meet the Press, 6/12/2011)

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY: “UNCONTESTABLY TRUE” THAT “ECONOMY IS VASTLY IMPROVED” SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE. (“Carney: Economy Has ‘Vastly Improved’ Since Obama Was Sworn In,” Real Clear Politics, 7/21/2011)

OBAMA ADVISOR DAVID PLOUFFE PRE-EMPTS JOBS REPORT, CLAIMS “VISION” MORE IMPORTANT THAN JOBS. (Julie Mason, “Plouffe: It’s About Vision, Not Jobs,” Politico, 7/8/2011)

Even as these new jobs numbers render a harsh verdict on Democrats’ failed, job-destroying policies, Democrats are still pushing thousands of new regulations and preparing to unveil more failed stimulus spending next week: 

4,257 NEW REGULATIONS IN THE WORKS, 219 WILL COST MORE THAN $100 MILLION ANNUALLY—15% MORE REGULATIONS THAN LAST YEAR. “Appropriate and responsible regulations play an important policymaking role. Yet the Obama administration has turned rule-making into an assault on American businesses and the jobs they create. Right now, 4,257 new regulations are in the works, 219 of which will cost over $100 million annually — 15 percent more than last year.”(Editorial, “How Obama’s Rules Hold Back Chicago Business,” The Chicago Sun-Times, 8/30/2011)

7 NEW RULES WILL COST MORE THAN $1 BILLION/YEAR: “President Barack Obama says his administration is considering seven regulations that would cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion a year. In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Obama says his administration is also trying to reduce the burden of government rules.” (Jim Kuhnhenn, “Obama: 7 Proposed Regs Would Exceed $1 Billion,” Associated Press, 8/30/2011)

“OBAMA TO SEEK STIMULUS FUNDS—BUT ‘YOU WON’T HEAR THE S WORD'”:“With President Obama set to unveil his plan for job creation at a Joint Session of Congress next week, a former White House economic adviser said today that economic ‘stimulus’ will be part of the package – but won’t be labeled as such.

” ‘You won’t hear the word ‘stimulus’ — the ‘s word’ — because that just is politically unappealing right now,’ Jared Bernstein, who left his post as Vice President Joe Biden’s top economist in June, told us on ABC’s ‘Top Line’ today. ‘But you will hear targeted measures, which I think is actually a more apt description of what I think the president will talk about.'” (Rick Klein, “Obama to Seek Stimulus Funds—But ‘You Won’t Hear the S Word’,” ABC News’ The Note Blog, 8/31/2011)

BIDEN LAST WEEK: WE NEED MORE STIMULUS, FIRST ONE DIDN’T SPEND ENOUGH MONEY. “Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday the U.S. economy needed more stimulus to get it moving, putting in a plug for government intervention shortly before the White House unveils new proposals to boost job growth. … ‘I think the economy does need more stimulus,’ Biden said… ‘Everybody says we should’ve (had)…a bigger stimulus package. Yeah, we should’ve. I was pushing (for) it,’ he said.” (Jeff Mason, “Biden Says U.S. Needs More Stimulus, Businesses Mad at S&P,” Reuters, 8/26/2011)