Unemployment rate rises to 7.9 per cent – HIGHER than when Obama took office
- Unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent on inauguration day in 2009
- The president said shortly after that if he failed to revive the economy in three years he would be looking at a ‘one-term proposition’
- He describes situation now as 'real progress' after employers added 171,000 jobs
- Mitt Romney said the news showed the 'economy was at a standstill'
- The news comes at a crucial time with just days to go until the election
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The unemployment rate rose in October to 7.9 per cent according to the latest U.S. Labour Department report – raising it above the level when President Barack Obama was sworn into office in January 2009.
Shortly after taking office, Obama said that if he failed to revive the economy in three years, he would be looking at a ‘one-term proposition’.
The September jobs report came as major a
surprise with unemployment rate dropping to 7.8 per cent, dipping below
eight per cent for the first time since February 2009, when it was 8.3
per cent.
Delicate moment: President Barack Obama speaks at a rally in Las Vegas yesterday during the fraught run-up to the election
On inauguration day in 2009, unemployment was 7.8 per cent.
Employers added 171,000 jobs, with the overall rate rising because more people began looking for work.
If the labour force participation rate was the same as when Obama took office, however, unemployment would be 10.6 per cent.
Progress? The rate of unemployment has fluctuated over the past two years, but is still higher than it was when Obama took office
On the campaign trail, however, Obama has pleaded for more time. ‘We've made real progress these past four years,’ he said in Boulder, Colorado on Thursday night.
‘But, Colorado, we all know our work is not yet done. As long as there's a single American who wants a job and can't find one, our work is not done.’
It was the last monthly employment report before a general election on Tuesday that has largely been fought on the issue of jobs with Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, blasting Obama for the ailing economy and Obama blaming the situation on the ‘mess’ he inherited from President George W. Bush.
While most voters have made up their mind about the economy, and many have already cast their ballots early, the rise in the unemployment rate will give Romney potentially crucial ammunition in the final four days of the 2012 campaign.
The September jobs report was greeted with scepticism and even claims of conspiracy from some on the Right. Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric, said via Twitter: ‘Unbelievable jobs numbers…these Chicago guys will do anything.can’t debate so change numbers.’
There was no immediate reaction from Welch, whose comments ignited a firestorm and were denounced by the White House as ‘ludicrous’, to the October report.
Romney said that the ‘increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill’.
He added in a statement: ‘The jobless rate is higher than it was when President Obama took office, and there are still 23million Americans struggling for work.
Crucial time: Republican candidate Mitt Romney, pictured today arriving in Norfolk, Virginia, said the increase in the unemployment rate was 'a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill¿
JOBS GOING TO IMMIGRANTS
Since President Obama took office four years ago, 67 per cent, or two-thirds, of new jobs have gone to legal and illegal immigrants, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
Most of that growth in immigrant employment was due to new immigrants coming to the U.S. for work rather than immigrants already living in the country.
There were 1.94million more immigrants employed in the third quarter of 2012 than at the start of 2009, when the president took office, compared with 938,000 hires among native citizens in the same time period.
A large share of job growth was going to immigrants before Obama took office, but the president has taken steps to make it easier for foreign-born workers to land jobs in the U.S.
In 2010 the Obama administration called on the U.S. Supreme Court to drop Arizona’s immigration law requiring employers to verify the legal status of new workers. The Supreme Court delivered a 5-3 decision upholding the law in 2011.
‘On Tuesday, America will make a choice between stagnation and prosperity. For four years, President Obama’s policies have crushed America’s middle class.
‘For four years, President Obama has told us that things are getting better and that we’re making progress. For too many American families, those words ring hollow.
‘We can do better. We can have real economic growth, create millions of good-paying jobs, and give middle-class families the security and opportunity they deserve.
‘When I’m president, I’m going to make real changes that lead to a real recovery, so that the next four years are better than the last.’
Job gains in previous months grew after being revised, with September’s 114,000 new jobs revised to 148,000 while August’s 142,000 was revised to 192,000.
There have now been 25 consecutive months of jobs gains in the United States – something trumpeted by the Obama campaign - but the increases have been not been enough to absorb new people entering the work force.
About 12million people are without work, two out of five of whom have been out of a job for more than six months.
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Blame Bush, blah blah blah....I would rather have a man in the office who doesn't look back and blame the other guy. Its been 4 years, its gotten worse. That's not Bush's fault, its Obamas....quit whining and propping up a failed president...time to let him go! I voted for his hope and change, I wanted it to work but it didn't!!!!!
- bflower , Ohio Usa, 02/11/2012 20:59
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