say it with me now: Jobless Recovery

[welshTerrier2]

there's a great article in today's NY Times about bush's failures to create JOBS ... in 2003, he depended on "the tax cuts" and on low interest rates that led to thousands of mortgage refinancings ...

but low interest rates are putting huge pressures on the dollar overseas ... our trade balances are a disaster ... and our massive budget deficits leave little room for more tax cuts ...

the sad truth is, bush has no second act for 2004 ... we are facing the tragedy of a jobless recovery ... yesterday's big drop on wall street is an early warning sign ... wall street understands that a jobless recovery will lead quickly to a drop in consumer confidence ... and if consumers aren't buying, businesses aren't selling ...

so bush has given us a failed economic program and a failed foreign policy ... how is it possible that we are still facing a close election this year? democrats should be able to crush this bozo ...

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/10/business/10ECON.html


<snip>

"We thought we were finally moving out of the jobless recovery, that the work force was really growing at last," said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist for Global Insight, a research and forecasting firm. "And now this report is telling us we are still stuck in a jobless recovery."

<snip>

But in December, 309,000 working-age men and women who would normally be job hunting either left the labor force or did not bother to enter it in search of work, the bureau reported. If they had not either dropped out or found jobs, the unemployment rate would have remained at 5.9 percent.

<snip>

"What we worry about is consumer spending in 2004," said Mr. Gault, the Global Insight economist. "We got a lot of help in 2003 from tax cuts and from mortgage refinancings. This year, however, we are counting on better employment gains to support consumer income growth and, in turn, consumer spending. If we don't get the jobs, we will have to worry about the consumer."

<snip>

[are_we_united_yet]

1. Ya know

I keep hearing results of (mostly GALLUP/CNN and CBS) polls of how most Americans approve of this administrations handling of the economy and foreign affairs. Yet by all verifiable accounts, these policies have been a dismal failure rather than debatable effectiveness. Who the hell are these Americans anyway?

You can't talk about recovery and jobless in the same sentence as far as I'm concerned. It is just another empty euphimism crammed down the throats of the American people by this administration. Gephardt is correct. This Administration has been a miserable failure.

[underpants]

3. 35-40% are concretely on the right or the left

So that explains some of the pro and con numbers in the polls. The others are a combination of:apathetic, going along with what they are told over and over, don't want to be negative in a time of WAR!!!!!!

I don't discount polls but I am aware that they are viewed either as the glass is half empty or half full.

[indepat]

5. Does a jobless recovery mean that the resources of the Federal government

are being devoted almost solely for the benefit of large corporations and almost solely to the detriment of workers: is this not the hallmarks of a corporatist government?

[are_we_united_yet]

10. I believe that is true.

[underpants]

2. Can you buy groceries or pay the mortgage with that?

No I didn't think so. When the jobless becomes a strain (and no there aren't X number of pages of want ads in the NYT as Reagan used to say) others may just realize that they are being forced to pay benefits to there fellow Americans and will want some answers and results from this administration.

[markus]

4. Did anyone see the opening of Lou Dobbs last night?

Man, is he pissed at the Bush* et al crowd at the moment. Starting off with the "failure to create any net new jobs" then "tonite in Exporting America...".

Anyone who doesn't think there are honest and honorable conservatives left in this country should spend a few minutes watching Mr. Dobb's program

[welshTerrier2]

8. Lou Dobbs

Dobbs is one of the very few "news" programs i watch ...

i don't really care if the press is left or right as long as they tell the truth ... because when they tell the truth, they'll be favoring the left ...

for information from TV, i'm mostly Lou Dobbs and C-Span ... and while many have criticized them for moving to the right, i did hear Terri Gross absolutely destroy Richard Perle a couple of days ago ... she was just great ...

[Cat Atomic]

6. Forgive me- I'm no economist, but isn't

"joblesss recovery" just another way of saying, "the rich got richer and the poor got poorer"?

Jobs move overseas, while the domestic labor market is undermined by union-busting tactics and cheap labor from immigration. The only winners are the corporations and their wealthiest shareholders, who pay less for labor and get massive tax cuts at the same time.

[Blue_Roses]

7. How can you put "jobless"

"recovery" in the same sentence and it not be an oxymoronic statement? If it's jobless, then how is it recovering? It just doesn't make sense.

[welshTerrier2]

11. oxymoron? well, yes and no ...

i appreciate where you're coming from ...

we have seen a rising stock market ... we have seen some increases in business activity ... these were the early signs of a recovery ... but without jobs, the recovery will fail ...

i'm not sure i would call "jobless recovery" an oxymoron though ... i see it as a timing thing ... business begins to recover ... when they do, the hope is that they will do more hiring ... if they fail to do so, and they will fail to do so this year, the recovery that began withers and dies ... the cycle is that we start in recession, move to a jobless recovery, and then either a recovery or a "double dip" recession depending on whether jobs are being created ...

jobless recovery is just a phase in the business cycle ... and this one is going to wither and die ... and with it, bush's election chances ...

[cosmicdot]

9. use of "recovery" sounds too positive to me

I can't offer much of an alternative on the cuff ... 'what jobs, no recovery' ... 'no jobs Bu$h economy' ... 'the raw deal' ...

Market Stalls on Poor Employment Report

January 10, 2004 08:14 AM EST

NEW YORK - The confidence that has been so contagious among investors just hasn't caught on with employers.

The Labor Department's December report issued Friday showed that employers are not quite as optimistic as Wall Street has been about what's ahead in the coming year. And so, while lower hiring levels may be a key factor in the strong profit reports investors are expecting, the job data left investors feeling a little tentative.

~snip~


On its surface, the report appeared enouraging, showing that unemployment dropped to a 14-month low of 5.7 percent in December. However, the national roll call of workers showed a paltry net gain of just 1,000 jobs.

So rather than an upswing in hiring, the drop in unemployment actually signaled a collective burst of frustration: More than 300,000 people gave up their search for jobs, and therefore were no longer counted as unemployed under the government's method of calculation.


http://start.earthlink.net/newsarticle?cat=1&aid=110070736_5304_lead_story

[ShimokitaJer]

12. More like "recoverless recovery"

More money being made -- less money being made through labor. How does this sound like a recovery to you?

There will never be economic equity in this country until we start distinguishing income from labor from other types of income, taxing labor income at a lower rate and using it rather than the stock market as the primary definition of economic health.

[pansypoo53219]

13. don't forget the W is that

jobless Wecovery.

[welshTerrier2]

14. actually

i thought it was more of a Wobbly Wecovery ...

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Bush should...

...grant blanket amnesty to all illegal aliens living on the Mars and the Moon. Maybe if he combined his two best programs into one he'd save some money for the next tax cut. A Guest Worker program for Martians. It addresses every unmet need of the American People in this Modern Age of Terra.

Fortune has their "100 Best Companies To Work For" cover story up on the Web Site (unfortunately it's restricted "premium content") but they do offer the teaser line "2004 Top Employers: It's been a rough couple years for jobs, but 59 companies on this year's list actually added to their payrolls."

Also worth noting is their article "Find the Right Company For You: What qualities are you looking for in a great employer?" section. I guess my answer to that would be "a great employer that won't send my job to India."

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/bestcompanies

[stopbush]

15. Jobless recovery=Foodless Meal n/t

[ShimokitaJer]

17. Great analogy

and great sig line too :)

[Lefty48197]

16. Jobless? Yes. Recovery? No.

.

[pippin]

18. well take a look at this thread

Job searches the longesst in 2003. Nothing this bad has happened since 1983:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=114&topic_id=4569

[Iverson]

19. 1-2-3 ... wet dryness!

cruel kindness
black whiteness
white blackness
soft hardness
solid gas
nutritious poison
jobless recovery