The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : 36,000 Jobs Lost in February; Unemployment Rate Remains at 9.7%

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The Spectacle Blog

36,000 Jobs Lost in February; Unemployment Rate Remains at 9.7%

By Philip Klein on 3.5.10 @ 8:46AM

The nation lost a lower than expected 36,000 jobs in February, keeping the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, the Department of Labor reported this morning.

The report was generally taken as good news, as the winter snow storms were expected to have reduced employment even further. Analysts had expected job losses of 50,000, according to a Reuters survey.

"Severe winter weather in parts of the country may have affected payroll employment and hours," the report said, "however, it is not possible to quantify precisely the net impact of the winter storms on these measures."

The report also found that there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in February who are not factored in the unemployment rate because they don't think jobs are available to them and thus have given up looking for work. That's up by 473,000 from a year earlier.

December job losses were revised downward to 109,000 from the 150,000 previously reported, while January losses were revised to 26,000 from 20,000.

The bottom line? In early trading, markets are reacting positively to the report, because it's better than expected and it seems like the job market is starting to flatten out. On the flip side, while it looks like layoffs are starting to taper off, millions of Americans still can't find jobs because employers don't seem to be hiring. So, I think it's easier to make the "turning the corner" case to the markets that it will be for the White House to make politically. Democrats need to see the economy actually start adding jobs at a good clip to improve their prospects this November.

Brad Smith| 3.5.10 @ 10:17AM

President's have very little impact on the unemployment rate. Short term policies (stimulus, tax cuts, etc.) can have an impact, but employment will generally lag the recovery. Conservatives like Limbaugh make a mistake in pouncing on employment numbers to criticize Obama. Conservatives should be talking about long-term policies (lower corporate rate, sensible regulation, etc.), and not focus so much on criticizing the President for the unemployment rate because when employment turns around, which it will, they will have given the President the opportunity to falsely claim credit for turning around the economy.

Eric Cartman| 3.6.10 @ 1:31PM

When the president keeps doing things that prolong the economic misery such as proposing radical changes that business will ultimately have to absorb and must plan for, then he and his henchmen deserve all the failures nail-gunned to their foreheads.

Conservatives can talk about long-term policies when they finally drive a stake through Obamacare, cap and tax, illegal alien amnesty and give away programs and the list goes on. When the bodies of these monsters stop twitching, then talk about long-term plans. The Tactical in support of the Strategic.

mythster| 3.5.10 @ 2:21PM

The economic system is under a death watch and there's almost no hope for survival without radical surgery.
Our political system needs multiple organ transplants,
including brain and heart.
Here's what responsible citizens can do to insure the survival of our country.
1. Stop contributing to all political organizations and politicians immediately!
2. Create and circulate a petition to impeach the Supreme Court.
3. Plan and execute a responsible citizens March on Washington on the first of May.
4. Politicians and organizations supporting the petition and march will be eligible for funding
5. Draft the "best and the brightest" to conceptualize a "Citizen's Bill of Rights for the 21st Century" for endorsement and incorporation in the U.S. Constitution.
Perhaps then we can start to re-create "a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men [and women] are created equal."

Oldefarte| 3.6.10 @ 11:49AM

No offense, but the economy is NOT turning any corner, and job/economic improvement will not be seen until/if the present Democrat administration and congress can be defeated and run from office. Their economic/financial policies of GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL will never improve or stop the economy from hemmoraging workers/jobs; since government funding does not CREATE JOBS [as does private industry. The government's funding of their so-called stimulus only preserved GOVERNMENT JOBS, which should have eliminated anyway. Government employment is rising/increasing, while the now 10% unemployment is solely representative of PRIVATE UNEMPLOYMENT/JOBS LOST. Taxpayers are in essense, paying/funding to have governmental workers keep their jobs, when in fact these jobs are unnecessary and should be eliminated to improve the economy. If/until government expenses are reduced substantially, government borrowing will crowd out/eliminate private industries from needed bank loans/borrowing; and the unemployment situation will not be reduced accordingly. Be prepared for extreme economic/financial hardships in this country until/if the present Democrats can be replaced by business/economic-oriented politicians whose goals will be to facilitate/improve the PRIVATE SECTOR, as opposed to the PUBLIC SECTOR!!!!!