Reactions to June 2012 Unemployment Report (July 6, 2012)
White House Press Office
 
While the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, much more remains to be done to repair the damage from the financial crisis and deep recession that followed.  It is critical that we continue the policies that build an economy that works for the middle class and makes us stronger and more secure as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession.  There are no quick fixes to the problems we face that were more than a decade in the making. President Obama has proposals to create jobs by ending tax breaks for companies to ship jobs overseas and supporting State and local governments to prevent layoffs and rehire hundreds of thousands of teachers.
 
Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that private establishments added 84,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 80,000.  The economy has now added private sector jobs for 28 straight months, for a total of 4.4 million payroll jobs during that period. Employment is growing but it is not growing fast enough given the jobs deficit caused by the deep recession.
 
The average work week for private sector workers rose by 0.1 hour in June.  Aggregate private sector work hours posted their largest gain since February, rising by 0.4 percent.  The stronger increase in work hours than in payroll employment suggests that many businesses chose to expand on the intensive margin as opposed to the extensive margin in June. 
 
The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent in June, according to the BLS household survey.   The unemployment rate is 0.9 percentage point below its level a year ago. 
 
Manufacturing employment continues to expand and manufacturers added 11,000 jobs in June. After losing millions of manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the recession, the economy has added 504,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010--the strongest growth for any 29-month period since April 1995.  To continue the revival in manufacturing jobs and output, the President has proposed tax incentives for manufacturers, enhanced training for the workforce, and measures to create manufacturing hubs and discourage sending jobs overseas.
 
Other sectors with net job increases included temporary help services (+25,200), leisure and hospitality (+13,000), and wholesale trade (+8,800). Retail trade lost 5,400 jobs, government lost 4,000 jobs, and motion pictures and sound recording lost 4,200 jobs.  Local governments shed 14,000 education jobs. 
 
As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available.
 
Alan B. Krueger is Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
 
 
“This is a time for America to choose whether they want more of the same; whether unemployment above 8 percent month after month after month is satisfactory or not. It doesn't have to be this way. America can do better and this kick in the gut has got to end.” – Mitt Romney
 
Remarks
Wolfeboro, NH
July 6, 2012
 
Click Here To Watch Mitt Romney Discuss The June Unemployment Report
 
MITT ROMNEY: “American families are struggling. There is a lot of misery in America today, and these numbers understate what people are feeling and the amount of pain which is occurring in middle-class America. Not only is the 8.2 percent number unacceptably high and one that’s been in place now for over 41 months, but in addition, if you look at the broader analysis of people who are out of work or have dropped out of the workforce or that are underemployed in part-time jobs needing full-time work, it's almost 15 percent of the American public. And then there are those that are working, but are working in jobs well beneath their skill level or working in multiple part-time jobs; kids that are coming out of college not being able to find work; veterans coming home not being able to do anything but stand in an unemployment line. These are very difficult times for the American people.
 
“There are other numbers that are troubling. The manufacturing reports of the last several weeks indicate that manufacturing is not growing either domestically or in our exports as we would have expected at this stage. And of course that's a long-term trend that is very disturbing and troubling. The President's policies have clearly not been successful in reigniting this economy, in putting people back to work, in opening up manufacturing plants across the country. The heartland industries where manufacturing occurs are struggling by virtue of policies on the part of the President that have not worked. The highest corporate tax rates in the world do not create jobs; highest regulatory burdens in our nation's history—those do not create jobs; trade policies that have not opened up new markets for American goods, particularly in Latin America—those don't create new jobs; failing to effectively crack down on China for cheating and stealing American jobs—that has not helped. The president's policies have not gotten America working again. And the president is going to have to stand up and take responsibility for it. I know he’s been planning on going across the country and celebrating what he calls ‘forward.’ Well, forward doesn't look a lot like forward to the millions and millions of families that are struggling today in this great country. It doesn't have to be this way. The President doesn't have a plan, hasn’t proposed any new ideas to get the economy going—just the same old ideas of the past that have failed.
 
“I have a plan. My plan calls for action that will get America working again and create good jobs, both near-term and long-term. It includes finally taking advantage of our energy resources, building the Keystone pipeline, making sure we create energy jobs, and we convince manufacturers that energy will be available and low cost in America. It means opening up new markets for American trade, particularly in Latin America where the opportunities are extraordinary. It means cracking down on China when they cheat and making sure they don't steal our jobs unfairly. It means bringing our tax rates down—our marginal tax rates down—and cutting out the exemptions and deductions and loopholes that are unfair in many cases. In other cases, we’re going to limit those deductions and exemptions, so that we maintain our revenue through growth and through limiting of these special deals, but bring our tax rates down so they’re competitive and attractive for jobs to come back to America. It means having a government that sees its role as encouraging enterprise rather than crushing it with the burden of new and unnecessary regulation and with outmoded regulations that haven't been cleaned up in years and years. And finally it means having a healthcare plan that focuses on bringing down the cost of healthcare for American families, not just adding new expenses and new taxes to the American people.
 
“This is a time for America to choose whether they want more of the same; whether unemployment above 8 percent month after month after month is satisfactory or not. It doesn't have to be this way. America can do better and this kick in the gut has got to end.”