US Unemployment Rate Climbs

VIA PAMELA ON POLITICS:

The job numbers weren’t good news for the Obama administration Friday as the unemployment rate climbed and Republicans blamed the president’s policies for lagging improvement. Who’s right about what can spur job growth?

President Obama told folks in his weekly internet address that one of his policies that will help create jobs in the overhaul of health care. He said cutting these cost for small business would lead to more small business start-ups and make doing business more affordable.

“I meet – people who’ve got a good idea, and the expertise and determination to build it into a thriving business. But many can’t take that leap because they can’t afford to lose the health insurance they have at their current job,” Obama said.

“I hear about it from small business owners who want to grow their companies and hire more people, but they can’t, because they can barely afford to insure the employees they have.”

But Republicans don’t agree, they blamed the continuing job losses on Democratic policies. Rep. Candice Miller of Michigan gave the Republican response and said the Obama-backed $787 billion economic stimulus package fell far short of its goals.

Here’s where we are on unemployment; the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, the highest since June 1983. The U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that the economy lost a net total of 263,000 jobs last month. What this means is 15.1 million people are now out of work and according to the government 7.2 million jobs have been eliminated since the recession began in December 2007, so they won’t be returning.

These numbers reflect the general population but for African-Americans these numbers reach double digits in some communities. It’s true the health care industry dominates close to 20 percent of the economy and job growth in there would be significant. But the question remains how much of an impact will we see and how long will it take?

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