Let Your Rabid Leftist Friends And Family Go
The Holiday Survival Guide (Trump WON Edition)
New York Democrat Issues Warning to His Party About Hochul
A Quick Bible Study Vol. 243: What the New Testament Says About Fearing...
Avoiding Self-Inflicted Trade and Economic Wounds
Why We Should Be Concerned Over the Philippine VP’s Comments
These Democratic Senators Could Sure Be in Trouble After Voting for Sanders' Anti-Israel...
Top Democrat Leader Obliterates The View’s Reasoning for Why Trump Won
Joe Rogan, Elon Musk Hilariously Spark Exchange On X Over Failing MSNBC
Matt Gaetz for Florida Governor?
Trump to Create New Position to Deal With Ukraine
Giving Thanks Is Good For You
The Hidden Pro-Life Message You Missed at Miss Universe
The Border's Broken Vetting System: Why We Can't Wait to Fix It
Can We Take Back the English Language Now?
OPINION

Welcome to Jobless America

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

It is becoming laughable to hear the Obama administration talk about a so-called “recovery.” Supposedly, this “recovery” started in June of 2009; however, in reality our economy is on life support and the latest jobs figures just confirm this horrible news.

Advertisement

In the government’s December labor report, the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent, which is our lowest rate since October of 2008. While this may be heralded as good news, it is truly disturbing. Unfortunately, only 74,000 new jobs were added last month, the worst job growth numbers since January of 2011.

This is anemic job creation, a fraction of the 200,000+ new jobs needed each month just to keep pace with the nation’s population growth. It is even more shocking since most analysts predicted approximately 193,000 new jobs in December.

Even worse, of the new jobs, 40,000 were temporary positions, not what wage earners need to care for their families. Not surprisingly, the average work week for Americans dropped to only 34.4 hours. So, there are few full time jobs being created and on average Americans are working less. No wonder there are 47 million Americans on food stamps and over 50 million people who are considered poor.

The reason the unemployment rate dropped is that an astounding 347,000 Americans left the work force in December. This means that 5 times more Americans exited the labor pool than located new jobs. Our country now has 91.8 million Americans not in the work force. These are Americans who are receiving benefits, living off their savings or living on the streets. Many of these Americans have given up any hope of finding work and for these poor individuals; the hope of the American dream is over.

Advertisement

We cannot have a “recovery” with no jobs. There can be no “recovery” with a labor force participation rate of only 62.8 percent, the lowest level since 1978. In December, the country’s civilian labor force dropped to 154.9 million. This is occurring at the same time that the population is increasing to 317 million.

If the labor force participation rate was the same today as it was at the start of the Obama administration, the nation’s unemployment rate would be over 11 percent. If that were the case, experts would be worried about an economic “crisis” and not boasting about a “recovery.”

There could be even worse news in future months. Due to Obamacare, the healthcare industry will face a severe crisis. In December, 6,000 healthcare jobs were lost, the first time in 10 years that there have been any losses in healthcare. This trend will likely accelerate in 2014 as the truly disastrous policies of Obamacare are implemented.

If the President was truly concerned about the economy, he would immediately halt the onslaught of Obamacare and start working on pro-growth policies of tax and budget reform and sensible energy policies such as construction of the Keystone pipeline. Sadly, the President is still committed to pro government, anti-growth positions that exacerbated these problems in the first place.

Advertisement

While the administration claims that “Happy Days are Here Again,” the reality is that our economic clouds are darkening and a major storm is coming our way.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos