While the US is technically out of recession, it provides little relief for those trying to seek or save jobs. October jobs data reports an umployment rate of 10.2%, its highest since April 1983. This is higher than last month’s 9.9% and actually worse than expected; economists were betting that the rate would be at 9.9%.
Some slight good news though: the number of people who lost their jobs are 190,000, down from 219,000 in September although this was worse than expected.
Based on another article I read, job losses will only peak at the summer of 2010 and we may not see actual job creation until 2012 despite recovery in other economic indicators. There are several key explanations for this. But as I have been saying before, that doesn’t matter to voters. What matters is that they want a job and want it quickly. As far as they’re concerned, there is no plausible explanation for why jobs can’t return.
As we know 2010 and 2012 are election years. President Obama and the democratic party know the danger they will face. They can’t expect any sympathy if they explain that jobs can’t be created as fast as the GDP rate recovers. So the recovery in other economic figures won’t matter to them. As I have said numerous times before, Obama and his party can expect 1 sure thing: if they can’t get the jobs back quickly, they can expect to be counted as some of those who are unemployed. Assuming 2010 and 2012 go as planned according to the article, Democrats are likely to lose seats, maybe lose control of 1 chamber and Obama will be locked in a tight race against his GOP opponent with the numbers slightly favouring the latter.