Jobs Rise 96,000 in August, Below Expectations; Unemployment Rate Falls to 8.1

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Jobs growth brakes in August, seen forcing Fed's hand

By Lucia Mutikani

Fri Sep 7, 2012 8:50am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jobs growth slowed more than expected in August, setting the stage for the Federal Reserve to pump additional money into the sluggish economy next week and dealing a blow to President Obama as he seeks reelection in November.

Nonfarm payrolls increased only 96,000 last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, it was largely due to Americans giving up the search for work.

The report's weak tenor was also underscored by revisions to June and July data to show 41,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. The labor force participation rate, or the percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one, fell to 63.5 percent -- the lowest since September 1981.

The lackluster report keeps the pressure on Obama ahead of the November vote in which the health of the economy looms large.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE88604Y20120907?irpc=932

[powergirl]

2. Republican heads are exploding

because they have been hoping for bad news for our country.

[still_one]

3. It isn't great news /nt

[S_E_Fudd]

4. It's not bad news either...status quo...

Romney needs something earth shattering to shake this race out of its current trajectory. This won't do it...jobs are still being created and unemployment is down...

Lower than expected, but I think the voters have factored this in...I think they realize the enormous weight Congress has been and are giving Obama credit for what he was able to do...

[still_one]

5. Yes, jobs are being created, but what you will hear is 96K jobs created is not great, and less than

expectation.

However, it is a valid argument that republican obstructionism is why it has taken so long

In addition, it WAS the republican policies that caused this problem, and we are still trying to clean it up

[liberallibral]

10. The Status Quo IS Bad News...

We need to get the ball rolling and get unemployment UNDER 8%... The Repubs continue to harp on that, and will use that talking point until November......

[S_E_Fudd]

13. Status quo...

Is not going to shake the dynamics of the election...

[liberallibral]

14. I disagree...

This election wouldn't be nearly as close, if we pulled out of the "status quo"... In my opinion, status quo is BAD NEWS!

[savalez]

16. It's close?

Not according to the NYT

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/

[INdemo]

8. Yes true but the scripts were just a little late this morning

to hear C.Todd and CNBC analyst one would think we lost a million jobs..Once he got the scripts he followed it to a T when just 45 min. earlier he was agreeing that this rreport put the wind at Obama's back..what a Republican hack.

[Roland99]

6. Figured it wouldn't be good judging from Obama's well-chosen words last night.

[Roland99]

7. Labor Force Participation Rate hits 63.5. Lowest since 1981!

data back to 2002:
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000/

The unemployment rate dropped because people are leaving the workforce because they can't find work!


change the start year in the dropdown to 1981 to see that chart.

[Yavin4]

9. Republican Governors Laying Off State Workers Is What Is Driving Unemployment

The private sector is adding jobs. It's the public sector that is killing them. What's needed is another stimulus to the economy which should include block grants for the states to pay public sector workers.

[Cosmocat]

11. THIS!

Pa lost 14,000+ public school jobs in 2011 alone ...

It has been a VERY coordinated and unified effort from DC to every republican controlled state to purge public sector jobs.

How ANY balanced journalist can accept the conflicting impacts of supposed drives to balance budgets with the need to add jobs is beyond any reason.

[bhikkhu]

15. And 2 million jobs locked up in the do-nothing republican congress

If they are concerned about jobs and the deficit, why did they kill the American Jobs Act? CBO estimates it would create 2 million jobs: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/07/1023967/-CBO-Senate-version-of-American-Jobs-Act-reduces-deficit-by-6-billion-in-nbsp-next-nbsp-decade

[dipsydoodle]

12. Duplicate LBN ?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014221742

[budkin]

17. Damn I thought the ADP report yesterday would portend better news

Guess the pukes are happy today.

[slackmaster]

18. Good News is the new Bad News

[Beacool]

19. How is this good news?

"While the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, it was largely due to Americans giving up the search for work."

[slackmaster]

20. It's being spun as good news by some people in the media, and on DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021294828

(Of course the article cited in the OP notes a couple of paragraphs down that it's actually bad news.)

ETA here's another one. The BBC simply spins it as good news without looking deeper.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021294828

[Beacool]

21. As you said, it's spin.

Every time that the unemployment rate has gone down in past months it has been due to people dropping out of the work force and not because a substantial number of jobs were created. How it can be spun as good news is beyond me.