More economic recovery:

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12648347

 

The US unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.9% in February, down from 9% the month before.

It is the third month in a row that the jobless rate has fallen, with February's figure marking a near two-year low.

Employers added 192,000 jobs last month, the US Labor Department said, above market expectations.

Paul O'Neill, former US Treasury Secretary, described the data as "very positive".

A Labor Department statement said that most job gains were in manufacturing, construction, business services and transport.

State and local government slashed 30,000 jobs, the most since November as budget cuts continue to bite.

The data showed that the jobless rate for adult men was 8.7%, for adult women 8%, and for teenagers 23.9%.

The unemployment rate has come down from 9.8% in November.

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I'll be the first to admit that this is not what the Obama Administration predicted or really wanted when they wanted unemployment to stay where it was when they were inaugurated. However looking at this, the unemployment figures appear to be showing more, and more effective, growth since the Administration's stimulus package has gone into effect. It makes me curious in fact whether or not a larger stimulus package would have had more effect. What do you guys think?

Comments

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't think much of it can. A lot of those jobs were artificial constructs of our housing-bubble economy, and the time and energy invested in developing those skills probably ended up going to waste.

If they were STEM jobs it would be easier, but that's a longer-term investment. It's why I worry about all the education cuts going on, particularly here in Texas - the costs are invisible for another 15-20 years.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

One problem is that in capitalist economies these bubbles recur over and over again and every damned time people are dumb enough to forget they eventually will burst. Unless people get smarter in the next two generations this problem will keep biting people hard and they'll be again surprised by it over and over again.

[nevermind6794.livejournal.com]

I was talking to a friend about something similar last night: whether people deserve to lose that money/job/investment, and whether government should step in. I was going to write a post about it soon.