Obama’s Economic Legacy: The Discouraged Worker

May 7, 2012

Tragic Economic Numbers Highlight the Growing Number of Americans Suffering the Consequences of the Democrats’ Economic Failure

Last week’s jobs numbers offered the latest evidence of the Democrats’ broken promises to the middle class, with unemployment remaining sky-high.
Failed Democrat policies have taken a tragic toll on American workers, who are increasingly discouraged by the Obama economy. The April jobs report showed hundreds of thousands of Americans dropping out of the workforce, as labor force participation hit a record low.
Despite plenty of economic indicators that the economy is stalling, the Democrats continue defending their failed policies that are creating uncertainty for job creators and making a bad economy worse.

Last week’s jobs numbers offered the latest evidence of the Democrats’ broken promises to the middle class, with unemployment remaining sky-high:

AP: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 8.1% AS “EMPLOYERS PULLED BACK ON HIRING,” “A SOBERING REMINDER THAT THE ECONOMY REMAINS WEAK”: (Christopher Rugaber, “Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.1 Percent as U.S. Adds 115,000 Jobs in April,” Associated Press, 5/4/2012)

DEMS’ PROMISED THEIR FAILED STIMULUS WOULD BRING UNEMPLOYMENT BELOW 6% BY NOW: (Jim Pethokoukis, “The Awful April Jobs Report: Is the ‘Real’ Unemployment Rate 11.1%?”, The American, 5/4/2012)

115K JOBS ADDED, BUT ECONOMISTS HAD EXPECTED 165K: (Susanna Kim, “April’s Unemployment Report and the Youth Problem,” ABC News, 5/4/2012)

REUTERS: “U.S. HIRING SLOWS, RAISING WORRIES ON RECOVERY”: (Jason Lange, “U.S. Hiring Slows, Raising Worries on Recovery,” Reuters, 5/4/2012)

AFP: OBAMA “SHRUGS OFF” LATEST ECONOMIC FAILURE: (“Obama Shrugs Off Disappointing Jobs Number,” AFP, 5/4/2012)

BLOOMBERG: “OBAMA FAILS TO STEM MIDDLE CLASS SLIDE HE BLAMED ON BUSH”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

“MORE THAN THREE YEARS INTO OBAMA’S OWN PRESIDENCY, THOSE DECLINES [TO THE MIDDLE CLASS] HAVE ONLY DEEPENED”: (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

OBAMA ECONOMY “HAS GENERATED RELATIVELY FEW OF THE MODERATELY SKILLED JOBS THAT ONCE SUPPORTED THE MIDDLE CLASS”: “The rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s has generated relatively few of the moderately skilled jobs that once supported the middle class, tightening the financial squeeze on many Americans, even those who are employed.” (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

95% OF JOB LOSSES IN RECESSION WERE TO MIDDLE-SKILL PROFESSIONS, BUT OBAMA HAS DONE LITTLE TO REGAIN THOSE JOBS:(Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide,” Bloomberg, 4/30/2012)

Failed Democrat policies have taken a tragic toll on American workers, who are increasingly discouraged by the Obama economy. The April jobs report showed hundreds of thousands of Americans dropping out of the workforce, as labor force participation hit a record low:

NEW YORK TIMES: “AMERICA’S 13.7 MILLION JOBLESS WORKERS STILL LOOK PRETTY DISCOURAGED”: “But no matter which hopeful explanation you choose, America’s 13.7 million jobless workers still look pretty discouraged. … An estimated 342,000 Americans dropped out of the job market altogether in April. That is why the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.2 percent — not because more workers found jobs, but because so many people left the work force.” (Catherine Rampell, “Reasons Abound for Ebb in Job Growth,” The New York Times, 5/4/2012)

“UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS DROPPING FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS”—AMERICANS QUIT THE LABOR FORCE IN DESPERATION:(Laurent Belsie, “Unemployment Rate Hits Three-Year Low. Hooray? No, Boo!,” The Christian Science Monitor, 5/4/2012)

350,000 AMERICANS GAVE UP LOOKING FOR WORK IN APRIL: (Laurent Belsie, “Unemployment Rate Hits Three-Year Low. Hooray? No, Boo!,” The Christian Science Monitor, 5/4/2012)

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION “HAS REACHED A 30-YEAR LOW”: “While the economy added 115,000 net jobs in April, some 350,000 Americans gave up looking for work. That has the effect of reducing the unemployment rate because, by the federal government’s calculation, those people no longer count as part of the labor force. As a result, the share of Americans who are part of the labor force – either working or actively looking for work – has reached a 30-year low.” (Laurent Belsie, “Unemployment Rate Hits Three-Year Low. Hooray? No, Boo!,” The Christian Science Monitor, 5/4/2012)

LOWEST LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION SINCE 1981: (Tweet from Jim Pethokoukis, The American, 5/4/2012)

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WOULD BE 11.1% IF LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION SAME AS AT THE BEGINNING OF OBAMA’S TERM: (Jim Pethokoukis, “The Awful April Jobs Report: Is the ‘Real’ Unemployment Rate 11.1%?”,The American, 5/4/2012)

UNDEREMPLOYMENT RATE AT 14.5%: (Jim Pethokoukis, “The Awful April Jobs Report: Is the ‘Real’ Unemployment Rate 11.1%?”, The American, 5/4/2012)

Despite plenty of economic indicators that the economy is stalling, the Democrats continue defending their failed policies that are creating uncertainty for job creators and making a bad economy worse:

SAN FRANCISCO FED’S WILLLIAMS: “RESTORING FULL EMPLOYMENT WILL TAKE YEARS”: (Aki Ito, “Fed’s Williams Says Restoring Full Employment Will Take Years,” Bloomberg, 5/3/2012)

UNEMPLOYMENT MORE THAN 7 PERCENT THROUGH 2014: “Economic growth, though, will likely stay ‘moderate’ for the next few years, Williams said, and the unemployment rate will fall to about 7 percent by the end of 2014.” (“Fed’s Williams-Need ‘Strong’ Stimulus for ‘Quite Some Time,’” Reuters, 5/3/2012)

NEW “NATURAL RATE” OF UNEMPLOYMENT COULD BE AS HIGH AS 6.5%: “Empirical studies, Williams said, show that’s not the case, with structural factors contributing only ‘a bit’ to the current jobless rate. The natural rate of unemployment — the point at which undesirable inflation pressures start to build — has likely risen to about 6 percent to 6.5 percent in the recent recession, he said.” (“Fed’s Williams-Need ‘Strong’ Stimulus for ‘Quite Some Time,’” Reuters, 5/3/2012)

“U.S. ECONOMY GROWS AT TEPID 2.2% PACE, MISSES ESTIMATES”:(“U.S. Economy Grows at Tepid 2.2% Rate, Misses Estimates,” Reuters, 4/27/2012)

TALKING POINTS MEMO: “JOBS REPORT A WET BLANKET ON OBAMA’S CAMPAIGN DEBUT”: (Benjy Sarlin, “Jobs Report a Wet Blanket on Obama’s Campaign Debut,” Talking Points Memo, 5/4/2012)

OBAMA’S OWN JOBS COUNCIL SAYS OBAMACARE’S SHEER SIZE IS CAUSING CRIPPLING UNCERTAINTY FOR EMPLOYERS: “PPACA’s size alone makes understanding the law and applying it difficult for even the largest companies. As one Council member observed, the law is nearly twice as long as Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Adding to the uncertainty, many of the most significant (and potentially costly) aspects of the law are not yet known – they must be developed and established through regulations. These regulations must be proposed, debated, finalized, and finally implemented. The complete process will take several years. The documents provided by members of the Council clearly show that this lengthy process creates uncertainty.” (“Higher Costs, More Confusion, Less Coverage: How the Health Care Law Affects Employer-Provided Health Care Coverage,”House Energy and Commerce Committee, April 2012)

SURVEY: “UNCERTAINTY, GAS PRICES SLOWING HIRING BY SMALL BUSINESS”: (Peter Schroeder, “Survey: Uncertainty, Gas Prices Slowing Hiring by Small Business,” The Hill, 4/16/2012)

73% OF JOB CREATORS CITED OBAMACARE AS AN “OBSTACLE TO HIRING NEW WORKERS”: (Peter Schroeder, “Survey: Uncertainty, Gas Prices Slowing Hiring by Small Business,” The Hill, 4/16/2012)

WASHINGTON DEMOCRATS ARE FUELING THIS CRIPPLING UNCERTAINTY WITH THEIR REGULATORY ONSLAUGHT: “Growing confidence in the economy is not leading to an influx of new hiring, as businesses fret about uncertainty driven in large part by Washington and growing fuel costs, according to a new survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“ ‘This survey confirms that slow gains in economic growth are being undermined by uncertainty over rising gas prices, an onslaught of pending regulations, and stalled pro-growth bills in Congress,’ said Dr. Martin Regalia, the business lobby’s chief economist.” (Peter Schroeder, “Survey: Uncertainty, Gas Prices Slowing Hiring by Small Business,” The Hill, 4/16/2012)

BUT OBAMA’S LATEST CAMPAIGN VIDEO INSISTS WE MOVE “FORWARD” WITH MORE OF THE SAME FAILED POLICIES AND SAYS “THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO”: (Byron Tau, “Team Obama Rolls Out ‘Forward,’”Politico, 4/30/2012)