I am posting this information for the people who think 2 months of job growth
means the economy is doing great. While adding 625,000 new jobs in 2
months is good news, it does not tell the full story. You can see some job
growth in parts of the country, but you have to look at the big picture.
1) Since Bush took office on 1-20-01 the economy has lost 2.6 million jobs. If you
subtract the recent 600,000 jobs you still have 2 million jobs lost since Bush
took office on 1-20-01.
A lot (if not most) of those jobs paid good money with benefits. A very high percentage
of them were manufacturing jobs that paid an average of $20 an hour with benefits.
Most of the new jobs created pay less and most do not include benefits. The average
new job created pays 21 percent less than the job they lost.
The report that 337,000 jobs were created in March and that 288,000 new jobs were created
last month is a very positive sign. But let's not forget - the unemployment rate actually went up in
March, not down, because even more people came back into the labor force and started to look for
work again, and couldn't find a job.
Even the few new jobs come with an asterisk. They pay an average of $8,000 dollars less than
the jobs lost in the Bush economy. In 48 of the 50 states, jobs being created pay 21 percent
less than had been paid by industries losing jobs.
2) Bush said his tax cut plan would create jobs
When he announced his first tax cut plan, the President said in February 2001, "my plan is good
for the long-term health of our economy. It is good for the businesses that create jobs."
Not exactly. Since then, the economy has lost 2 million jobs.
The President said his first tax bill would create 800,000 additional jobs by the end of 2002. We
lost 1.9 million jobs instead.
His economic report promised 3 million more jobs in 2003. Wrong again? 300,000 jobs lost.
The Bush tax cut plan that took effect in July of 2003 projected 5.5 million new jobs would be
created by the end of 2004. That adds up to 306,000 new jobs every month. The Bush economic
team actually said their tax cut plan would create 78,000 new jobs each month. What a lot of
people don't know is they said the economy would create 228,000 new jobs a month WITHOUT
the Bush tax cut. Yes they said the economy would create 228,000 jobs WITHOUT the Bush tax cut.
Yet Bush takes credit for all 337,000 new jobs in March, and 288,000 new jobs in April. In the 10
months since the last Bush tax cut took effect 1,043,000 new jobs have been created. Yet they
projected 3,060,000 new jobs would be created by the end of 2004. Far less than the 2.2 million
new jobs the Bush economic team projected the economy would create WITHOUT the tax cuts.
And they never mention what these new jobs average pay is, or if they have benefits, or if they
are part time jobs. All you get is the job numbers, no details about the quality of the jobs.
Jobs Picture - Economic Policy Institute
May 7, 2004
Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that, for the second month in a row,
U.S. firms have significantly expanded their payrolls, signaling that the economic recovery is finally
reaching the nation’s labor market. Payrolls grew by 288,000 in April following an upwardly revised
figure that put the gains for March at 337,000.
After contracting by over 700,000 December through February, the labor force expanded by
91,000 last month and by 270,000 over the past two months, suggesting that the improving
labor market may be pulling in more job seekers.
Even with these impressive job gains, the fact that this positive jobs trend is evolving so late
in the recovery means that considerable labor market slack remains in place. Payrolls are down
1.6 million from their pre-recession peak, and are up only 31,000 since the recovery began in
November 2001.
<snip>
As noted, revised data show an end to the very long drought in factory hires. Over the past three
months, manufacturing employment is up by 37,000 (21,000 in April), the first gains in the industry
since July 2000. Still, these relatively small gains have put only a tiny dent in the deficit of three
million jobs that developed over the past three years.
While hourly wage growth accelerated slightly in April, inflation has sped up recently as well.
Averaging over the past three months, wages are rising at an annual rate of 2.2%. While this is
an acceleration over prior months, inflation is rising even faster. Through March, the most recent
data, quarterly inflation is up at an annual rate of 3.6%, meaning that the buying power of the
hourly wage is declining.
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_econindicators_jobspict_20040507You can not measure the health of the economy by looking at the job growth in one state, or one
city, or the pay scale for one state or city. A $10 an hour job may be great in Iowa, but in Chicago
it's poverty wages. You have to look at the big picture, the cost of living in your city, is the job full
time, does it have benefits, is it a temporary summer job, will you get laid off at the end of summer.
These are just a few questions Bush does not answer. If you lost a $20 an hour job with full
benefits a year ago and then take a $10 an hour job with no benefits how are you better off. It may
be ok if you are single and living at home with your parents. But if you are married, have a kid or
two, pay rent, electric, cable, car payment, insurance, etc. $10 an hour is a joke.
Not to mention all the jobs that are being outsourced to foreign countries. And 20 years ago a family
could live on the income of one worker. Now it takes two incomes per family just to get by. And that
does not even consider trying to save some money or paying to send a child or two to college.
In the Bush economy the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. The new jobs here in Peoria pay
an average of $7 an hour. The $10 an hour jobs are few and far between. Inflation goes up more
than the average workers wages go up, that means you get farther behind every year. In the 90's
inflation averaged 2.9 percent a year, at the time I was working at a union company making $12 an
hour with benefits. But we only got a 2 percent raise every 2 years, that means we were losing 2
percent a year (adjusted for inflation) while the company was setting record profits. What was our
pay back for this, they closed the plant on 12-31-95 and gave our 300 union jobs to non-union
workers in the right-to-work state of Kentucky.
That company was International Paper, in late 1994 and early 1995 they set record quarterly profits
of $100 million (or more) in one quarter. A the same time they were trying to bust the union and
only gave us 2 percent raises every 2 years. This plant had been in Peoria for 50 years, the suits
in New York referred to it as their flagship plant. My grandfather and my father both retired from
this plant. Yet in 1995 they shut it down to increase profits and put 300 employees out on the
street. Now the scabs in Bowling Green Kentucky do our jobs for $7 and $8 an hour.
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