VIDEO- President Obama: Largest Monthly Job Increase In 4 years

By GottaLaff

If you missed this earlier, here you go:

Video- Pat Buchanan: April job numbers "unvarnished good news"

Hahahahahahaha.

Job Growth Continues

What's that saying "slow but steady wins the race"? Let's go!! Via Taegan-

The U.S. economy added jobs last month "at the fastest pace in four years, but the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Employers added 290,000 more jobs in April -- more than Wall Street expected and the largest gain since March 2006 -- but the unemployment rate rose to 9.9%, a sign that more Americans are looking for jobs.

U.S. employment grew slowly in April

Three months adding jobs is a helluva lot better than the alternative. Krugman says we need 127k jobs a month, so at least we're on our way?

ROSELAND, N.J., May 5 (UPI) -- Payroll firm Automatic Data Processing said Wednesday U.S. private sector jobs have made gains for three months, albeit very modestly.

ADP said 32,000 jobs were added to the economy March to April, using seasonally adjusted figures. In addition, ADP revised the previous month's estimate from a loss of 23,000 to a gain of 19,000. On top of that, a revision of January to February shows an increase of 3,000 jobs, ADP said.

ADP said to expect "stronger" numbers on Friday, when the Labor Department releases its estimate of the employment picture, which includes federal jobs that are not counted in the ADP report.

Spain jobless rate surpasses 20 %

Unimaginable. I can't believe the people aren't rioting in the streets.

MADRID — Spain's jobless rate has surpassed 20 percent for the first time since 1997, the government said Friday as it offered more dismal news for a recession-plagued economy that is being dragged into Europe's debt crisis.

The National Statistics Institute said the rate rose 1.22 percentage points in the first quarter to 20.05 percent.

While other major economies in Europe and elsewhere have posted at least tepid growth as they fight to crawl out of recession, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy is still contracting after the collapse of a construction boom that had fueled years of expansion.

The agency said that as of the end of March, there were 4,612,700 people out of work in the country. The jobless rate is the highest since the last quarter of 1997, when it stood at 20.11 percent. Since Spain slipped into recession in 2008, the rate has roughly doubled, a dramatic development for a country that had been one of Europe's top job-creators.

Headline of the Day

Unemployment claims drop as home sales rise

Senate restores $18 billion in jobless benefits

By GottaLaff

Via an L.A. Times e-mail alert:

The Senate passed an $18 billion bill on Thursday to restore unemployment benefits for people who have been out of a job for months and resume Medicare payments to doctors about to absorb a 21 percent cut.

The 59-38 vote sends the measure back to the House, which was expected to vote and send it for President Barack Obama's signature Thursday night.

The vote comes as welcome relief to hundreds of thousands of people who have been ineligible to reapply for additional weeks of benefits after exhausting their state-paid benefits. They will be able to receive those checks retroactively under the legislation.

How do you spell relief? C-H-E-C-K-S.

How do you spell pain in the hiney? G-O-P.

Summers: 5 steps to more jobs... unless GOP blocks

By GottaLaff

Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House National Economic Council, was on CNN’s State of the Union today. He explained how we inherited a terrible situation, have "a long way to go", and reminded Candy Crowley that the president has had to get around the roadblocks the Rushpublics have consistently put up.

He went on to say the "trend has turned", despite what we got stuck with. He laid out what the Obama administration has planned:

In order to try to bring the unemployment rate down, Summers said the administration is taking five steps: (1) continuing to implement the approximately $800 billion stimulus package passed soon after President Obama took office, (2) implementing new measures including tax credits intended to encourage businesses to hire the unemployed, (3) additional support to protect workers in state and local government like teachers and firemen, (4) providing incentives for small businesses to expand, and (5) providing incentives to create “the new energy economy” that includes a focus on energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy.

He said number four was "critical".

He also said Congress needs to act on these provisions so that we can build a foundation for the future.

However (Yes, the H Word is back):

Asked why the administration did not seem to be pointing to any new proposals intended to battle unemployment, Summers suggested that some of the White House’s economic agenda was being held hostage by Republicans in Congress.

Gee, ya think?

Sidebar: Candy Crowley started the segment by emphasizing Obama's dip in the polls over the last year, failing to put it into proper context. As my Twitter pal Degringolade said, "Worst. Easter Candy. Ever."

Video- Biden’s job prediction on Jon Stewart show back in November comes true

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Joe Biden Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Reform

And no, he didn't have it in his pocket because of the Census jobs- they were only 48k out of 162k jobs created. Relevant bit is around 2:50.

Vice President Joe Biden predicted the economy would be creating jobs by February or March of 2010 in an appearance on “The Daily Show.”

It looked like a risky bet when Biden told Jon Stewart on Nov. 17, 2009, that the economy would be adding jobs by February or March.

“We had 740,000 jobs lost the month we took office...it continues to go down,” Biden told Stewart. “We'll be creating jobs by February or March of next year.”

On Friday, that call proved correct when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the economy added 165,000 jobs in March.

(snip)

When Biden made the comment, the economy had just lost more than 200,000 jobs in November, and it hadn’t had a positive month in nearly two years. The economy lost at least 200,000 jobs per month from July 2008 to October 2009.

Unemployment rate stays at 9.7 percent, 162,000 jobs gained

I'm just thrilled it isn't worse.

The American economy added 162,000 jobs last month, the New York Times reports, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%. While the numbers got a lift from the government's hiring of 48,000 census workers, private employers added 123,000 jobs in the month.

Steve Benen: "The jobs report is easily the best we've seen since the start of the Great Recession late 2007, and the strongest overall in three years. With revised numbers for recent months, March is now the third month to show positive job growth since the start of the economic downturn, but last month's totals far exceeded the modest totals from November 2009 and January 2010."

Jobless claims fall, trade gap narrows, foreclosure rates up by smallest amount in 4 years

Scream it from the rooftops people!!

(Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly less than expected last week, hinting at a slow labor market recovery.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 462,000 from 468,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was a touch less than market expectations for 460,000.

Separately, the Commerce Department said the nation's trade gap shrank 6.6 percent to $37.3 billion as oil imports fell to their lowest since February 1999. However, U.S. exports also declined. Analysts had expected the deficit to widen to $41.0 billion from $39.9 billion in December.

Not enough good news for you? Try this one on-

ASSOCIATED PRESS- The foreclosure crisis isn't over, but the pace of growth finally may be slowing down.

RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in February grew 6 percent from the year-ago level, the smallest annual increase in four years.

Jobless aid measure passes Senate

By GottaLaff

62-36:

The Senate has passed legislation to give months of continued jobless checks to people who have been out of work for more than half a year and help the unemployed pay for health insurance.

The jobless aid accompanies a host of other provisions that would prevent doctors from absorbing cuts to Medicare payments and help financially strapped states cope with spiraling Medicaid bills.

[...]

The bill also extends a variety of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that are popular with senators in both parties.

Scott Brown bucks party to end filibusters

By GottaLaff

Get a load of Mr. Independence:

Brown took to the Senate floor Tuesday to announce he would vote for cloture, or to end a Republican filibuster, on a bill extending unemployment benefits and tax credits. This, despite the fact he opposes the bill and technically the filibuster helped his cause.

"I have very serious concerns about the overall cost of the bill," Brown told the chamber, "but my vote for cloture signals that I believe we need to keep the process moving." He also said, "there has been a week of debate and allowing this bill to receive an up-and-down vote, would be a step, I feel, in the right direction."

With Brown’s help, the nearly $140 billion bill cleared the procedural hurdle on a vote of 66-34, setting it up for passage.

I keep waiting for another shoe to drop. I'm not even sure what that meant, but suffice it to say Brown makes me uneasy. Maybe it's the SenatorFold, or the $750 pink leather shorts.

However, his two helpful votes are greatly appreciated.

Manpower says employment picture is sound

Manpower should know, they are everywhere.

MILWAUKEE, March 9 (UPI) -- Private U.S. staffing firm Manpower Inc. said Tuesday that prospects for job hunters should improve in the second quarter.

In a recent survey, 73 percent of employers indicated they would keep staff levels unchanged in the second quarter, Manpower said. In addition, employers in 12 out of 13 industry sectors indicated positive Net Employment Outlooks for April through June, "meaning employers in most industry sectors plan to add staff during the second quarter," Manpower said.

"We continue to see encouraging signs in hiring activity in the United States," said Manpower Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Joerres in a statement.

Video- Tom DeLay: Unemployment Benefits Keep People From Looking For Jobs

Steve's got the rollcall of all the other sensitive asshats that are marching with Delay, but the kicker is-

As a matter of economics, the GOP argument is absurd: "[W]hen the economy is deeply depressed, extending unemployment benefits not only helps those in need, it also reduces unemployment. That's because the economy's problem right now is lack of sufficient demand, and cash-strapped unemployed workers are likely to spend their benefits. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says that aid to the unemployed is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, as measured by jobs created per dollar of outlay."

As a matter of conscience, having prominent Republicans chastise those struggling to find work during an unemployment crisis is just callous and cruel.

And as a matter of politics, who, exactly, is going to be impressed by Republicans attacking the unemployed as lazy? Since when is "screw struggling families, let's worry about corporate tax cuts and the estate tax" an effective election-year message during difficult economic times?

Keep talking guys.

Unemployment Rate Stays at 9.7%

That's okay, I'm sure we'll be looking for some good news next month too. Via Taegan-

"The U.S. economy shed fewer jobs than expected in February and the unemployment rate was steady at 9.7% despite stormy weather on the East Coast last month, which the government said may have temporarily hit payrolls and work hours," the Wall Street Journal reports.

Without the massive snow storms, this might have been a very good report for the White House.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

ADP says job losses slowed in February

Needed some of this today.

ROSELAND, N.J., March 3 (UPI) -- Payroll firm Automatic Data Processing said Wednesday U.S. private sector job losses in February slowed to the lowest number in two years.

ADP said 20,000 non-farm jobs were lost in January to February, continuing a trend of lower job losses. However, ADP also revised its December to January estimate from 22,000 to 60,000.

Manufacturing, which has not added jobs since January 2008 -- one month after the recession began -- added 3,000 jobs January to February, the report said.

Service jobs rose by 17,000 in the month, for the second consecutive month of increases, ADP said. Goods-producing jobs more than offset that gain, however, with a loss of 37,000 jobs.

Video- Bunning Objects To Unemployment Bill Again, Despite GOP Support

What. A. HUGE. Ass. Via TPM.

Bunning Flips the Bird + VIDEO: "Excuse me! This is a Senator's only elevator!"

By GottaLaff



I got wind of this little incident on Twitter. Now here's the story itself... of the lovely, genteel, screw-America Jim Bunning:

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) refused to answer questions from ABC News about his decision to filibuster a bill extending unemployment benefits.

Said Bunning: "I'm not talking to anybody."

When producers asked him to stay and talk on camera, Bunning "walked toward the elevator and shot the middle finger over his head."

Ohhh, what I'd give for a clip of that!

Nothing like offending your fellow citizens, causing them even more pain, and alienating the press, Ace.

Stee-rike three! Or four. Or five. I'm losing track.

Isn't he just the best role model ever?