The Labor department reported that job growth was stronger than expected as employers added 103,000 net new jobs in September. The news of added jobs comes amidst growing fears of an economy inching closer to a double dip recession. However, a rehiring of 45,000 striking Verizon workers accounted for nearly half of the added jobs. Furthermore, the number of jobs added barely kept up with population, maintaining an unemployment rate holding steadfast at 9.1%.
Members of Congress, in both parties, rushed to cite the jobs report in the debate over the American Jobs Act, a stimulus bill proposing a mixture of tax relief and infrastructure spending. House Speaker John Boehner said, "The American people are asking the question: 'where are the jobs?' The Democrats running Washington need to stop campaigning, start listening, and start working with Republicans to liberate our struggling economy and remove government barriers to private-sector job growth."
For weeks, the President has instructed Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs bill, but gridlock has frustrated real legislative action. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor refused to put the bill up for a vote and Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked a vote on the bill in the Senate.
According to the Labor Department's recent report, the economy needs to create several hundred thousand jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. There's little indication, however, that the recovery is building any real momentum. Many recessions are self-correcting and characterized as a V-shape, which symbolizes a steep drop in the economy followed later by a climbing recovery. The nature of our recovery, however, is L-shaped; the current recession is marked by steep drop and then flat-lines for an extended period of time. So, why do we have a dilatory congress during a persistent recession?
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2011.