Obama Econ Adviser Touts Better Than Expected Jobs Losses
EmailUPDATE: After this story first posted, Mr. Goolsbee contacted ABC News to clarify his use of the word “market” to mean the employment forecasting market as opposed to the stock market. ABC News updated the headline and the story to reflect that clarification. ABC News’ David Chalian reports: A top economic adviser to President Obama said today he was unsurprised by the August jobs report showing the worst unemployment rating in 26 years, but pointed to the better than expected monthly job losses as a sign that the economy is headed in the right direction. “Everyone knew, we internally, the President has been saying, the private forecasters have been saying that the unemployment rate would end up peaking out at something over 10% so I don’t think it was any surprise in that,” said Obama adviser Austan Goolsbee, a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. “I think the market clearly took the main surprise from this being job losses were significantly smaller than what had been anticipated by some 30,000 – 40,000,” he added.
The unemployment rate hit 9.7% for the month of August, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a shedding of fewer jobs in a one month period than at any time over the last year. The Labor Department estimates 216,000 jobs were lost in August. “We’re going in the right direction in the sense that the job losses have been getting smaller and smaller each month. When the President took over we were losing 740,000 jobs a month and now it’s down to 216,000,” Goolsbee noted during an interview on ABC News’ “Top Line.” As for those initial forecasts from the Obama team that unemployment would top out at 8 percent, Mr. Goolsbee explained that every financial prognosticator got that one wrong. “There’s not any question now in anyone’s mind that this was the most serious recession since 1929 and that we were teetering on the edge of a depression. So the baseline was substantially worse than anyone predicted, he said. “But the impact of the stimulus on keeping the unemployment rate from going even higher, everyone sensible is in agreement that it has been able to do so,” Goolsbee said in an effort to trumpet the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic recovery plan. Mr. Goolsbee also dismissed Republican criticism that the stimulus is not having its desired impact since the unemployment rate continues to climb. “When you see the people criticizing the stimulus, criticizing it on really contradictory grounds, ‘Ahh it’s running up the deficit, ahhh it’s not having an impact on jobs,’ one gets the sense it’s kind of the congressional version of the East German judge,” he said. “They had their critiques written out before they even saw what was in the stimulus and so I think we ought to turn to the people who make a living doing forecasts and evaluating the economy and those people are saying that its having a big, positive impact,” Goolsbee added. Watch the entire interview with Austan Goolsbee HERE. As he does each Friday, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos also joined us on “Top Line” today and set the stage for President Obama’s big health care speech to a Joint Session of Congress next week. Watch what George says the president needs to accomplish in the speech as he also reveals some internal White House strategy debate on just how the president goes about achieving those goals. Be sure to tune in on Sunday to “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” when George sits down with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bob Dole. Watch the entire interview with George Stephanopoulos HERE.
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“we ought to turn to the people who make a living doing forecasts and evaluating the economy and those people are saying that its having a big, positive impact,””
It should also be mentioned that they can say that AND still say it was a bad idea *longterm*. The long term ramifications of the stimulus are open for honest debate. Whether or not the government spending billions actually creates jobs is not open to any honest debate.
Posted by: jhw539 | September 4, 2009, 3:26 pm 3:26 pm
Everything is open to debate. I just wish debate didn’t involve negativity, name-calling, fear mongering & lying.
Would love to see a debate which simply stated nicely a difference of opinion but with an open mind to see the other side as well.
I’m probably dreaming.
At this point does anyone really know the long-term effect.
I wonder sometimes if people really know how close the US was to really, really, really hard times & that that has been avoided or averted.
Posted by: Linda | September 4, 2009, 6:22 pm 6:22 pm
“better than expected monthly job losses”?
Why are ANY “job losses” “better”- whether or not they were expected? Sure I understand the strategy of tension and the ideal that by massive job loss the central government, or their czars, can consolidate power, ownership of capital, and get voters to approve more anti-freedom policies but shouldn’t Obama officials at least PRETEND to care.
Posted by: Ed | September 4, 2009, 7:56 pm 7:56 pm
Wow! I am so encouraged. Even though the jobs Obama promised to “create” with bailouts are actually jobs LOST it is OK because they are not being lost as fast as we expected.
Take a clue from every president that has ever successfuly face a recession. The BEST thing the government can do is reduce spending and reduce taxes. Instead, Obama is promising to INCREASE both. Get BIG BROTHER out of the way and let the market work!
Posted by: Don | September 5, 2009, 12:40 am 12:40 am
Austan Goolsbee unsurprised by August jobs report……Perhaps he should listen to the speech Obama gave in February citing the urgency of the Stimulus Package. Here are some excerpts for your recollection. “This plan will save or create over 3 million jobs — almost all of them in the private sector. “This plan will put people to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, our dangerous — dangerously deficient dams and levees. This plan will put people to work modernizing our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives. This plan will put people to work renovating more than 10,000 schools, giving millions of children the chance to learn in 21st century classrooms, libraries and labs — and to all the scientists in the room today, you know what that means for America’s future. This plan will provide sensible tax relief for the struggling middle class, unemployment insurance and continuing health care coverage for those who’ve lost their jobs, and it will help prevent our states and local communities from laying off firefighters and teachers and police. And finally, this plan will begin to end the tyranny of oil in our time.” Now.on to…… Obamas Health care Crisis…….
Posted by: pauldia | September 5, 2009, 10:42 am 10:42 am
The push to retain the two party systems and strangle any effort by minor parties or independents has continued to be one of the best ways for the political elite to maintain control on the masses. It is a racist strategy conducted by both of the major political parties. Take the situation of Arkansas. With over 95 percent of the registered voters choosing to be independents who vote the person and the issue rather than the party, the two major parties hold everyone else hostage to their ideology.
While this continues to allow them to consolidate power in many other states, in Arkansas the populist wave is growing. Unhappy with Blanche Lincoln’s representation of Arkansas in Washington and the racist plantation owner mentality of the republican’s in the rest of the state, the voters continue to vote the individual based on his merits, message and experience.
The primary example in Arkansas is Trevor Drown, from Russellville, the former Green Beret, small business owner and UPS employee who many consider the common man of Arkansas. His refusal to take corporate money, listen to party politics and leadership style of daring to make a difference is resonating throughout the state. While he may not have the funds, he has the people’s ear and he is receiving more supporters every day. Trevor chooses to meet with people from all walks of life, listens to them, their concerns and what they are looking for. That in itself is different from so many professional politicians. As he meets people, he is building support and a grassroots movement has sprung up. Next spring when he needs to get the 10,000 signatures to get on the November ballot he will easily do this. The money and funding will come, it will be slow but, it will build momentum as time goes by. When people from all over see the impact he is making, we will see a fundamental change in the way campaigns are conducted. It will not be politics as usual. Drown will eventually face a Democratic Incumbent who has collected so much money from corporate donors, it can only be described as obscene. The winner of the republican primary will either be another bloated political party hack or a racist plantation owner, who uses the church to rally support and be the fake conservative voice. Thankfully it will not work this time and a true independent, an American will represent Arkansas.
Posted by: ClaireBear | September 5, 2009, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
I am always amazed when I hear people downing the Recovery Act because it wasn’t the cure all for job loss…
I mean, how could it be???
The way I understand the Recovery Act is that it was broken down into 3 parts
Part I
As a tax for the middle class… that 13.00 extra in the pay check is the tax break…( yeah, ok… it’s not much… how much did you want??? how big a stimulus did you want??? ) I am happy for anything I could get.
Part II
Went to extend unemployment benefits and for subsidizing to Cobra by as much as 65%… Many people benefited from these extended benefits…
Financial bail outs also went to the individual states so that police, firefighters and teachers etc could be keep their jobs.
Then finally Part III
Only one third of the Recovery actually
went to creating jobs to fix our sagging infrastructure.
So when I hear, people putting down the Recovery Act, I think, how could something meant only as a band-aid at best be expected to be a cure all or to solve every crisis that makes a good Recession.
Or, perhaps these people don’t really understand the extent of the mess the country is truly in and that it started long before the President even began to campaign for President.
And yet, many of these same people are so willing to give the Bush administration a free pass taking absolutely no responsibility for anything and instead quickly Obama for his 8 months in office… ???
Posted by: theafalcon200 | September 7, 2009, 8:47 am 8:47 am
“We’re going in the right direction in the sense that the job losses have been getting smaller and smaller each month. When the President took over we were losing 740,000 jobs a month and now it’s down to 216,000,” Goolsbee noted.
Latest update: in Sept 2009 we lost nearly 800,000 jobs – this is not the right direction.
Posted by: Willie Wilmette | October 3, 2009, 8:48 pm 8:48 pm
they call it stimulus,a better name is graft, bribe, special interest, waste, earmarks . every dollar spent must be paid for by a cut somewhere else. borrowing with interest cost, raising taxes or printing money. problem is fewer middle class with good jobs to pay the tax. the more you give tax money to the non worker, the less incentive their is for the worker to work, so he gives up and goes on the dole.
Posted by: madmax | January 30, 2010, 9:03 am 9:03 am