By the time this column is published you will know the number of non-farm payroll jobs gained or lost in April according to the BLS. On Wednesday ADP projected 119,000 gained. The main stream media went immediately into their ‘unexpected’ mode.
OMG these numbers were ‘unexpectedly’ weak. For the main stream nim-Bobs it’s panic time. What will this do to Obama’s reelection chances? The editorial rooms will be a bee hive of activity attempting to figure out how they can spin these pitiful numbers to look good. But there may be help on the way.
Here’s my theory. The abysmal ADP number will be used as the benchmark. The BLS will report a higher number, just guessing, between 160,000 and 175,000. Then comparing the higher BLS number, whatever it may be, to March’s pathetic 120,000 and ADP’s 119,000, we’ll once again be headed in the right direction, and all will be good in Obamaville as reported by the nim-Bobs. But not so good where people live.
In spite of Obama’s anti-business agenda, manufacturing has been the foundation to the jobs floor but that could be cracking. Too bad we don’t have any foundation specialists in the Czar regime, they’re off worrying about contraceptives, student loans, wars on women, and reminding everyone Osama Bin Laden is still dead.
Something strange is going on in the world of manufacturing. On Monday the Chicago manufacturing index fell to the lowest level since November of 2009, then Dallas manufacturing went negative for the first time this year and to its lowest level in seven months.
Then Tuesday the Institute for Supply Management reported April manufacturing ‘unexpectedly’ rose to 54.8 to the highest level since June. Somebody ought to tell Chicago and Dallas the good news. The euphoria amongst the nim-Bobs was deflated the next day when factory orders reportedly fell to their lowest levels in three years.
Are we clear now on the dynamics of the manufacturing sector, and how that will lead to job creation? For jobs are the key to everything, especially housing.
The Census Bureau reported this week that the home ownership rate fell to the lowest level in fifteen years at 65.4. Ironically the labor force participation rate was reported at a three decade low of 63.7 in January then rose rapidly to 63.8 by March. Could it be possible that the rate of homeownership be tied to the labor force participation rate? You know, people with jobs who can actually afford to buy a home?
What could the Obama administration do to encourage job growth in the private sector? What could his puppeteers in the media do to help influence a positive outlook and build legitimate confidence? How about gas prices in the $2.00 range again, instead of trying to convince people $3.83 gas is great?
You might be onto something if you think the uncertainty in the private sector caused by Obamacare, and the daily chants from the East Room to raise taxes on the rich were keeping businesses from hiring. But if you seriously wanted to spark economic and job growth wouldn’t $2.00 gas be the ticket?
John Hofmeister former CEO of Shell Oil and founder of Citizens for Affordable Energy has put forward a plan that would lower gas to the $2.00 range, create seven million jobs, and make the USA independent of OPEC oil.
How? By implementing a plan to increase our domestic oil production.
But wait a minute you say? Obama has regurgitated that although we consume 25% of the world’s oil we only have 2% of known reserves. Nothing upsets Mr. Hofmeister more than when he hears Obama ‘mislead’ Americans by making this claim.
Hofmeister says technically the president is correct, because a government bureaucracy declares 2% is the known reserves, but reserves calculated only from active wells. The untapped reserves from recent discoveries, all the known reserves on banned federal lands and water are ignored in the Obama teleprompter environmentalist propaganda.
The cherry on top for our master deceiver came this week when he looked the AFL-CIO hard hats in the eyes and said those rascally Republicans are stopping his infrastructure bill that would put them to work. This from the guy who just killed tens of thousands of their jobs by denying the Keystone Pipeline. Someone should tell the world’s smartest man that approving the Keystone was as big a no brainer as ordering the Bin Laden raid.
Instead of turning the best oil companies in the world loose to create millions of jobs, provide affordable gas and food, become independent of OPEC, we have a president who uses the 25%/2% propaganda to appease his environmental base, who are obviously more important than hard hat jobs or affordable gas and food for American families.
Whatever jobs number was reported today, we can safely bet 0% of them were created by Obama. The propaganda may fool the voters, but not the laws of economics. As the job market goes, so goes the housing market.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of Fritz Pfister or identified sources, and not necessarily those of RE/MAX Professionals of Springfield or RE/MAX International.