Even when factoring in the damage from the two major hurricanes that hit Florida and Texas, the Trump economy did worse than projected as the economy lost jobs for the first time since 2010.
CNBC reported, “Hurricanes Harvey and Irma damaged not only Texas and Florida but also the U.S. jobs picture, as payrolls fell by 33,000 in September. That drop came even as the unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low of 4.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday…Economists surveyed by Reuters expected payroll growth of 90,000 in September, compared to 169,000 in August. The unemployment rate was expected to hold steady at 4.4 percent. It declined even as the labor force participation rate rose to 63.1 percent, its highest level all year and the best reading since March 2014.”
There are clear signs of a job creation slowdown happening:
U.S. job totals over the first 9 months of
2012: 1.56m
2013: 1.73m
2014: 2.14m
2015: 1.89m
2016: 1.79m
2017: 1.33mhttps://t.co/Qh1fInV0ONTo get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) October 6, 2017
— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) October 6, 2017
— West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) October 6, 2017
Republicans could have taken steps to grow the economy during the Obama years, but instead, they obstructed him. After taking control of the federal government, Trump and congressional Republicans have been obsessed with taking health care away from people and ignoring the economy. The economy is slowing down due to years of Republican neglect, and tax cuts for the rich will only make the problem worse.
Trump owns these jobs numbers. Donald Trump is absentee president, and the country will suffer economically from his lack of leadership. The stage is being set for another Republican recession.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association