McCain On Track To Repeat Bush’s Dismal Record On Job Creation»

Paul Krugman’s most recent blog post has a great chart highlighting Bush’s dismal record of job creation, comparing it to job creation during the Clinton administration:

This chart alone is striking. Job growth under Bush was abysmal, when compared to the eight previous years of steady increase. Taking Krugman’s chart a step further, David Madland of the Center for American Progress compares Bush’s performance on job creation not just to Clinton, but to the other 41 American presidents who have come before him. Madland concludes that aside from Herbert Hoover — the only American president to ever LOSE jobs during his term in office — Bush has the worst record on job creation in this country.Now going back to Krugman’s, and Dean Baker’s point, we agree that it is absurd to suggest that McCain’s economic plan is more committed to job creation than that of his competitor. If the Washington Post is going to discuss McCain’s “emphasis on job creation,” then it would be disingenuous to leave out the other hallmark of his proposal: a continuation of the Bush tax cuts with particular weight on reducing corporate taxation.

According to a study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on policy responses to short-term economic weakness, the focal point of McCain’s plan, a cut in the corporate tax rate, is fundamentally flawed:

The most common form of a general cut in business taxes is a reduction in the corporate tax rate. This approach, however, is not a particularly cost-effective method of stimulating business spending: Increasing the after-tax income of businesses typically does not create an incentive for them to spend more on labor or to produce more, because production depends on the ability to sell output.

So let’s connect the dots. McCain wants to follow Bush’s lead on tax cuts — not only extend them past their 2010 expiration, but deepen them further by cutting the corporate rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent. A cut in the corporate tax rate is not only an inefficient means of creating jobs, but as Krugman and Madland point out, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy have resulted in embarrassingly low levels of job creation.

So unless John McCain is running against Herbert Hoover in the fall, any competitor will find themselves with greater “emphasis on job creation” than the Maverick from Arizona.

New Job Losses — The Kind McCain Won’t Bring Back»

Today’s Department of Labor monthly employment report shows a 5.1% unemployment rate (an increase of 0.3% from last month) and a loss of 80,000 jobs across the country (a year to date reduction of 288,000).

This month’s figures also highlight a disappointing trend in the kinds of jobs that are being lost: manufacturing jobs. In 2007, only six states — Washington, Utah, Nevada, Kansas, Nebraska and Louisiana — created manufacturing jobs. The bulk of those positions being industry-specific, such as airplane production or transportation. In the more traditional manufacturing, rust belt states — Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan — manufacturing employment was either stagnant or declined.

Just before Michigan’s January Republican primary, McCain made his now infamous pronouncement:

I’ve got to give you some straight talk: Some of the jobs that have left the state of Michigan are not coming back… They are not. And I am sorry to tell you that.

Michigan, which has an unemployment rate over 2 percent above the national average, lost 5.3 percent, or 76,500 manufacturing jobs in 2007 — the largest job loss of any state. Michigan’s non-farm economy is comprised of 15 percent manufacturing.

Note to McCain: this is how you get manufacturing jobs back.

Unemployment Soars To Highest Levels Since Katrina»

In a major milestone announcement today, the US Department of Labor revealed that the number of US workers claiming unemployment rose to 407,000 from the previous week, its highest level since Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. The number of people collecting unemployment insurance reached its highest level since July 2004.

More shocking than just the increase is sheer number is the amount by which this figure surpassed economists’ expectations: over 40,000 more Americans are reporting joblessness this week than anticipated. The national monthly unemployment report, which is released tomorrow, is expected to be equally as dismal with an estimated decline of 50,000 American jobs.

Weekly Jobless Claims, via The Capital Spectator:

Reverberating throughout the American economy, this announcement had immediate impact on the strength of the US Dollar, stock index futures, and the increasingly prevalent suspicion that the US is approaching recession.

Less than 24 hours after the Chairman of both the Federal Reserve and US Treasury articulated their pessimistic outlook on the 2008 economy, these numbers unfortunately are simply an indication of what’s to come.