NewsMine — economy — united-states — 2004 — 2004-jan-mar — Viewing Item

Gop cheers job increase { April 3 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595053537,00.html http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595053537,00.html Saturday, April 3, 2004 GOP cheers big increase in new jobs By Lee Davidson Deseret Morning News WASHINGTON — The "jobless" economic recovery finally created a significant number of new jobs in March: 308,000, according to data released Friday. Congressional Joint Economic Committee Chairman Bob Bennett, R-Utah, quickly led a GOP chorus saying that shows the economy has truly revived and that Democratic attacks on President Bush for an economy that is failing to create jobs are just political smoke. "The increase in employment in today's report suggests that businesses have become increasingly assured that the economic expansion will endure, and they are becoming less reluctant to hire workers," Bennett said as his committee received monthly data on unemployment. Even the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., acknowledged the big addition of 308,000 jobs — erasing in one month a seventh of the total number of jobs lost during the Bush administration amid war, terrorist attacks and the dot.com bust — "was the first significant job gain of the entire Bush presidency." However, Stark said, "We are still in a deep hole, and we can't really talk about a jobs recovery until we see robust job creation for several months." He added, "Overall, the economy has lost 1.8 million payroll jobs since President Bush took office." The data gave the administration a ready-made defense even as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry released a new TV ad Friday criticizing Bush on one aspect of the employment issue, outsourcing of jobs overseas. "The policies are working," said President Bush, in West Virginia to promote the "Jobs for the 21st Century" training program. Despite the addition of new jobs, the unemployment rate edged up to 5.7 percent from 5.6 percent in February because more people entered the labor force, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Still, Bennett and Republicans painted a rosy picture with that data, while Democrats saw mostly gloom. Bennett said, "It is the seventh consecutive month of job gains and brings us to a total of 759,000 jobs that have been added to U.S. payrolls in the past seven months." He said other continuing strong economic indicators in housing, business activity and manufacturing "will translate into more jobs as the recovery moves forward." He added, "We have been expecting these job gains for some time, and today's report of job gains in March begins to close the gap between expectations and actual hiring." On the other hand Stark said, "We've been gaining jobs slowly since August, but at the pace we've seen so far, it would take nearly 1 1/2 years to erase the current jobs deficit." He added, "March marks the third anniversary of the Bush jobs slump — the most persistent jobs recession since the 1930s." Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., added, "Overall, the president's cumulative jobs record remains one of definitive failure." Construction jobs increased by 71,000 nationally in March, which Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Kathleen P. Utgoff called an "unusually large gain" that had followed a decline of 21,000 such jobs in February. Retail trade employment increased by 47,000. Utgoff said part of that came from the return to payrolls of some workers who had been on strike in food stores. Employment in health care and social assistance increased by 36,000, mostly in hospitals, doctor's offices and nursing facilities. The food services industry added 27,000 jobs. Professional and business services added 42,000 jobs. Manufacturing employment was unchanged in March at 14.3 million. Utgoff said the unemployment rate, 5.7 percent, and the number of unemployed people, 8.4 million, "were essentially unchanged" in March, but edged up a bit. Unemployment rates for the major worker groups were: adult men, 5.2 percent; adult women, 5.1 percent; teenagers, 16.5 percent; whites, 5.1 percent; blacks, 10.2 percent; Hispanics, 7.4 percent; and Asians, 4.2 percent.

Adds fewer jobs than expected Blue chips in the red Bush says sending jobs overseas helps us { February 10 2004 } Data dispite bush rich label for small businesses Dollar hits 11 year low against pound Dollar plunges after us jobs data { March 5 2004 } Dollar slides as consumer data disappoint Dollar slips vs high yielders ahead of trade data Euro hits new high against dollar { February 18 2004 } Fed governor says inflation was too low Fed keeps rates steady calls for patience Gop cheers job increase { April 3 2004 } Greenback slides on lack of fed worries { January 6 2004 } Heineken warns weak dollar will hit profits Inventory levels low show wary business { March 12 2004 } Investors should worry about inflation risks Job growth stalls in february { March 5 2004 } Lack of new job deals blow to us economy { March 5 2004 } Levi strauss zips up last us plants { January 9 2004 } Manufacturing jobs replaced with mcdonalds Manufacturing news disappoints economists Misleading unemployment figures muddled job crisis Mutual fund 40bn inflows 2003 { February 5 2004 } Nasdaq leads surging wallstreet Ny fed warns of risks to us economy Reactions to fed rate left unchanged Real unemploytment rate higher argue economists Senator hollings discusses dangers sending jobs overseas { March 30 2004 } Sluggish job growth threatens recovery { February 10 2004 } States expect budget shortfalls Stocks slip oil prices a worry Treasuries surge as fed ackknowledges jobs gloom Us national debt tops 7trillion { February 18 2004 } Us stocks soar after 5 day tumble Files Listed: 34

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.