When is a Lower Unemployment Number Bad News?

Posted by Chamber Grassroots on September 7th at 4:15pm

This morning, it was reported that the economy added only about 96,000 jobs in August bringing the unemployment figure down from 8.3% to 8.1%  

Great news, right?  Unfortunately not.  Today’s unemployment numbers are lower because so many Americans have become discouraged with their efforts to find a job that they’ve simply stopped looking.

U.S. Chamber Chief Economist Dr. Martin Regalia explains:

“For yet another month the economy created a paltry number of jobs. The unemployment rate dropped because 368,000 people left the workforce. The participation rate in the jobs market is at a 30-year low. Clearly the economic policies that have been implemented in Washington are failing. These numbers virtually assure that the Fed will try to bail out the economy with yet another round of monetary easing.”

We can turn this around.  

But only when we stop looking to government for all of the solutions and again embrace American free enterprise and the power of small businesses to lead our recovery and put Americans back to work.


You are currently not logged into to the Friends of the U.S. Chamber Blog.

If you would like to post a comment, please create an account or log in below.