Bye, Bye Jobs Growth, Hello Recession? TIME Magazine

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Posted by Stephen Gandel Friday, September 2, 2011 at 10:59 am


People wait in line for a job in New York (Shannon Stapleton / Reuters)

Zippo. Nadda. Goose egg. The big fat one. That's how many jobs the economy added in August. And that is really bad news.

Perhaps we should have known that this summer - with the near government default, the European debt crisis, the U.S. credit downgrade, and Hurricane Irene - was bad for the economy. But somehow today's news that employers added a net of zero new workers to their payrolls in August still seems like a big disappointment. Stocks dropped on the news, and some economists started talking more seriously that we are headed toward another recession. Mark Zandi, who heads up Moody's Analytics, concluded that the poor jobs number essentially means the economy was no longer growing, at least for now. Labor economist Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the liberal leaning think tank Brookings Institute says, "Looking at these jobs numbers, I'm gloomy." Me too. Here's why:

The one bright spot was the unemployment rate, which remained unchanged in August at 9.1%. But still that's a very high rate, and the rest of the report offered little hope that the economy is headed anywhere but down. Even in industries like healthcare and manufacturing, which had been the few standouts in this recovery, hiring was slow. Temporary hiring, which is usually a early indicator of future full-time job growth, was up only 5,000 jobs. Information Technology, which is supposed to the real strength for our economy, lost jobs, even after you adjust for Verizon, where workers were on strike. Retailing, which had been strong earlier in the year, lost jobs as well.
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But the one big reason to worry is Washington. We need the government to act to arrest the problem of widespread joblessness in the country. But when I made my calls this morning to policy watchers, I asked if they thought this weak jobs number would change the dynamic in Washington. Most of this year, politicians, the President included, seems to have been more focused on cutting spending and reducing the debt, not on getting people back to work. The people I talked to said no. Obama is expected to release a new plan to lower unemployment next week. Most said it is unlikely to contain any new large stimulus spending. Even if it did, Republicans would probably reject it. That means the long weekend for the unemployed will probably continue for a while. Happy no-Labor Day, America.

Well Well!

[sce56]

1. Evening Kick

[ZombieHorde]

2. I'll give you a K&R. nt

[wisteria]

3. What is needed is for the Republicans to stop playing politics with peoples lives,

and work with our President for the good of our nation.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Forever Wars & Forever Recession/Austerity:

Looks like everything's going "according to plan."

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5. Morning Kick!

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6. Toons tell the tale

[Hotler]

7. I have no hope. I see no future. n/t