New Data Show Obama Net Positive For Job Creation Since He Took Office

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New Data Show Obama Net Positive For Job Creation Since He Took Office

By Pat Garofalo

According to new revisions released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the economy created 386,000 more jobs between March 2011 and March 2012 than shown by previous estimates. As economist Justin Wolfers noted, this means that President Obama is now net positive for job creation over his term in office, even taking into account the massive losses in January 2009:

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers The BLS benchmark revisions means that there has been a net jobs gain since Jan '09. Romney can no longer talk about job losses under Obama.
27 Sep 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers BLS Benchmark revisions mean that over the year to March 2012, the economy was adding 194k jobs per month, not 162k as previously thought.
27 Sep 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

The Economist’s Greg Ip noted that the revisions mean that Obama’s net job creation number is now 125,000:

Greg Ip @greg_ip Incorporating today's BLS revision, net payroll growth over Obama's term would move from -261K to +125K.
27 Sep 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/27/920781/new-data-obama-net-positive/

Employment: Preliminary annual benchmark revision shows 386,000 additional jobs
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021425106

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1. Thanks.

K & R

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2. You're welcome.

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3. New jobs numbers under cut major Romney talking point

New jobs numbers under cut major Romney talking point

By Greg Sargent

So the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this morning that it is revising its jobs count, to include an additional 386,000 nonfarm jobs that were created from March of 2011 to March of 2012.

Jobs numbers are only one metric for measuring economic improvement, so we shouldn’t overstate their significance. This new finding, however, does matter politically in a few key ways. First, as Justin Wolfers points out, the added jobs means that there has no longer been a “net” loss of jobs on Obama’s watch. As you know, Romney has been saying for a very long time now that the “net” jobs lost on Obama’s watch proves his policies failed. That’s a bogus metric, because it factors in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs lost in each of the first few months of Obama’s term, before those policies went into effect.

But putting that aside, net jobs were now actually gained on Obama’s watch. So, in theory at least, Romney has been deprived of one of the talking points that has been central to his candidacy for a year now. That talking point was crucial for Romney, because it enabled him to make the (nonsensical) case that Obama destroyed jobs overall.

By the way: If Romney objects to incorporating BLS’s new revisions into his jobs count, he should know that in 2004, the George W. Bush White House relied on BLS revisions to improve its own jobs count.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/new-jobs-numbers-under-cut-major-romney-talking-point/2012/09/27/afc38a64-08c0-11e2-a10c-fa5a255a9258_blog.html

What are the chances Romney will whine about this?