I have to admit the Obama Boom is defying all economic logic. Despite anemic growth, economists are always optimistic good times are here. Only during the Obama Boom is 2.5% GDP growth considered booming. Another miracle for the Obama Boom, the old rule of 150,000 jobs a month needed to keep the unemployment rate the same no longer applies. Job growth of under 100,000 positions a month lowers the unemployement rate. Just 80,000 jobs were added in the month of October and unemployment dipped to 9%.
The jobless rate unexpectedly fell in October while employers added fewer jobs than forecast, illustrating the “frustratingly slow” progress cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke this week.
The unemployment rate fell to a six-month low of 9 percent from 9.1 percent, even as the labor force expanded. The 80,000 increase in payrolls followed gains in the prior two months that were revised up by 102,000, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.
The crisis in Europe and a looming deadline on U.S. budget talks may be prompting companies to delay hiring on concern failure to reach resolutions will put the global recovery at risk. Fed policy makers project the jobless rate won’t drop below 8 percent until 2013 at the earliest, one reason why Bernanke this week said additional stimulus “remains on the table.”
“We’re making progress at a very slow pace,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, who projected an 85,000 gain in payrolls. “It indicates continued consumer spending, getting a little better over time. The labor market is consistent with moderate economic growth.”
Let the good times roll with the Obama Boom!
