The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 07, 2010

Remarks by the President on the Monthly Jobs Numbers

South Driveway

11:03 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  Good morning, everybody.  On what seems like a daily basis, we’re barraged with statistics and forecasts and reports and data related to the health of the economy.  But from the first days of this administration, amidst the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, I’ve said that the truest measure of progress would be whether or not we were creating jobs.  That’s what matters in people’s lives.  What matters is whether someone who needs a job can find work -- whether people can provide for their families and save for the future and achieve some measure of economic security. 

Everything we’ve done has been with this goal in mind.  And today, I’m happy to report that we received some very encouraging news.  In April, the economy added 290,000 jobs, with the vast majority -- approximately 230,000 -- coming from the private sector.  This is the largest monthly increase in four years.  And we created 121,000 more jobs in February and March than previously estimated, which means we’ve now seen job growth for four months in a row.  These numbers are particularly heartening when you consider where we were a year ago, with an economy in freefall.  At the height of the downturn, around the time that I took office, we were losing an average of 750,000 jobs per month.

So this news comes on the heels of a report last week that the overall output of our economy -- our GDP -- is increasing.  We now know that the economy has been growing for the better part of a year.  And this steady growth is starting to give businesses the confidence to expand and to hire new people. 

I should also note that the unemployment rate ticked up slightly from 9.7 to 9.9 [percent].  Given the strength of these job numbers, this may seem contradictory, but this increase is largely a reflection of the fact that workers who had dropped out of the workforce entirely are now seeing jobs again and -- are now seeking jobs again, encouraged by better prospects.

Now, I want to emphasize:  The economic crisis we’ve faced has inflicted a lot of damage on families and businesses across our country, and it’s going to take time to repair and rebuild.  Over the course of this recession, more than 8 million jobs were lost.  So there are a lot of people out there who are still experiencing real hardship.  And we’ve got to be mindful that today’s jobs numbers, while welcome, leave us with a lot of work to do.  It’s going to take time to achieve the strong and sustained job growth that is necessary.  And of course, long before this recession hit, for a decade middle-class families had been experiencing a sense of declining economic security. 

So, yes, we’ve got a ways to go.  But we’ve also come a very long way.  And we can see that the difficult and at times unpopular steps that we’ve taken over the past year are making a difference.  Productivity is up.  The hours people are working are up.  Both are signs the company may be hiring more workers in the months to come.  We saw the largest increase in manufacturing employment since 1998.  And we can see the benefits of our Recovery Act in the strong employment reports from construction and other sectors, where we’ve made key investments in creating and saving jobs. 

Of course, there are limits to what the government can do.  The true engine of job growth in this country will always be the private sector.  That’s why we are very pleased to see the strong employment growth on the private sector side.

What government can do is help create the conditions for companies to hire again.  What it can do is build the infrastructure and offer the incentives that will allow small businesses to add workers, that will help entrepreneurs take a chance on an idea, that will lead manufacturers to set up shop not overseas but right here in United States of America.

And that’s what we’ve been doing.  Right now, a series of tax incentives and other steps to promote hiring are taking effect.  Because of a bill I signed into law a few weeks ago, businesses are now eligible for tax cuts for hiring unemployed workers.  Companies are also able to write off more of their investments in new equipment.  And we’re spurring additional investments in school renovation, clean energy projects, and road construction, which will create jobs while laying a new foundation for lasting growth.

In addition, as part of health reform, 4 million small businesses recently received a postcard in their mailbox telling them that they’re eligible for a health care tax cut this year.  It’s worth perhaps tens of thousands of dollars to each of these companies.  And it will provide welcome relief to small business owners, who too often have to choose between health care and hiring.

So that’s what’s already come online.  But we still have more to do.  In my State of the Union address, I called for a $30 billion small business lending fund, which would help increase the flow of credit to small companies that were hit hard by the decline in lending that followed the financial crisis.  And obviously small businesses are a major source of job creation. 

This morning, we sent draft legislation to Congress on this fund, which now includes a new state small business credit initiative.  This state initiative, which was designed with the help of governors and members of both the House and the Senate, will help expand lending for small businesses and manufacturers at a time when budget shortfalls are leading states to cut back on vitally important lending programs.  

In addition, with state and local governments facing huge budget gaps, we’re seeing layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other essential public servants -- which not only harms the economy, but also the community and the economy as a whole.  So we are working with Congress to find ways to keep our teachers in the classrooms, the police officers on the beat, and firefighters on call.

A few months ago, I also proposed giving people rebates to upgrade the energy efficiencies of their home.  This will not only save families money, it will create jobs in the hard-hit construction and manufacturing sectors, since things like windows and insulation are overwhelmingly made in the United States of America.  I was gratified to see a bipartisan vote to pass this proposal, called “Home Star,” in the House of Representatives yesterday.  I’m calling on the Senate to act as well.  And I’m urging Congress to expand the clean energy manufacturing tax credit, which is helping create jobs across America building wind turbines and solar panels. 

Even as we take these steps to increase hiring in the short and long run, we’re also mindful of other economic factors that can emerge.  So I want to speak to the unusual market activity that took place yesterday on Wall Street.  The regulatory authorities are evaluating this closely, with a concern for protecting investors and preventing this from happening again.  And they will make findings of their review public along with recommendations for appropriate action.

I also spoke this morning with German Chancellor Merkel regarding economic and financial developments in Europe.  We agreed on the importance of a strong policy response by the affected countries and a strong financial response from the international community.  I made clear that the United States supports these efforts and will continue to cooperate with European authorities and the IMF during this critical period. 

So this week’s job numbers comes as a relief to Americans who found a job.  But it offers obviously little comfort to those who are still out of work.  So, to those who are out there still looking, I give you my word that I’m going to keep fighting every single day to create jobs and opportunities for people.  Every one of my team that's standing alongside me here has the same sense of mission.  We’re not going to rest until we’ve put this difficult chapter behind us.  And I won’t rest until you, and millions of your neighbors caught up in these storms, are able to find a good job and reach a brighter day.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END
11:11 A.M. EDT

Subscribe

The Employment Situation in April

Posted by Christina Romer on May 07, 2010 at 09:38 AM EST

Today’s employment report shows the strongest signs yet of healing in the labor market, as private nonfarm payrolls expanded substantially. At the same time, the rise in the unemployment rate reminds us of how far we still have to go before the economy is fully recovered.

Payroll employment increased by 290,000 in April--the largest one month employment gain since March 2006. Of this total, 231,000 was in the private sector. Hiring related to the decennial Census contributed 66,000 to the total. The payroll employment numbers for February and March were also revised up substantially (by 53,000 and 68,000, respectively). The current numbers now show that employment has grown in each of the past four months.
 
The job gains were spread widely across sectors. Construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, education and health, and hospitality and leisure all added jobs. Indeed, the rise in manufacturing employment of 44,000 was the largest since August 1998. One area of weakness was state and local government, which reduced employment by 6,000. Temporary help employment grew more slowly than in previous months (+26,000), suggesting that firms may be moving to more permanent hiring. The average workweek for all employees on nonfarm payrolls increased by 1/10 of an hour and is up 3/10 of an hour since December.

In the household survey, the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent. This is obviously a very high rate, and reducing it must remain the fundamental focus of policy. Importantly, the rise in the unemployment rate in April was driven largely by a surge in the labor force. The labor force increased by 805,000, while employment as measured by the household survey increased by 550,000. Since December, the labor force has increased by 1.9 million.♦  Such a rise in the labor force often occurs in recoveries as workers who had dropped out of the labor force are drawn back in by improved employment opportunities.
 
While today’s report clearly suggests that we are moving in the right direction, it also shows how much work remains to be done. The unemployment rate is painfully high, and payroll employment is still nearly 8 million below its level at the start of the recession. It will take many months of robust job growth to restore the labor market to genuine health. Further targeted actions to spur private sector job creation are critically needed to ensure a more rapid, widespread recovery.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. It is essential that we continue our efforts to move in the right direction and generate sustained, strong job gains.

CEA 50710 Jobs Chart

 
Christina Romer is the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
 
♦ This number is adjusted to remove the impact of revised population controls that the Bureau of Labor Statistics introduced in January 2010. Without this adjustment the labor force increased by 1.7 million.
See more about Economy  
Subscribe

Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the Clean Energy Transformation

Posted by Christina Romer on April 22, 2010 at 10:41 AM EST

A central piece of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is more than $90 billion in government investment and tax incentives to lay the foundation for the clean energy economy of the future.  These investments and tax incentives include everything from energy efficiency retrofits to modernizing the electrical grid to tax credits for advanced clean energy manufacturing.  These clean energy investments are also providing crucial stimulus to the economy today.  The CEA’s third quarterly report on the impact of the ARRA, released on April 14, found that the Act as a whole raised employment by between 2.2 million and 2.8 million jobs over what it would otherwise have been.  In a new supplement to the report, we focus in detail on the macroeconomic impact of the Act’s clean energy provisions.
      
Table 1 lists the clean energy provisions in the ARRA, grouped into nine functional categories.  Column 1 shows that of the original $787 billion estimated cost of the Act, $90 billion was devoted to clean energy programs.  The last two columns indicate that nearly $40 billion of this total has already been obligated for specific clean energy projects, and more than $9 billion has been outlayed.

042110 CEA Table 1

To estimate the short-run economic impact of the ARRA’s clean energy investments, we use the CEA macroeconomic model described in our third quarterly report.  Table 3 of the supplement shows the results.  We find that the Recovery Act created more than 80,000 clean energy jobs as of the first quarter of 2010, and that the clean energy investments supported an additional 20,000 jobs throughout the economy.  Importantly, these estimates include only employment related to projects that have received actual outlays to date.  In many cases, the additional $20 billion in obligations shown in Table 1 may have already generated economic activity because recipients may begin spending as soon as they are certain funds are available.  Looking over a longer horizon, the ARRA’s clean energy provisions will support about 720,000 job-years through 2012.  (A job-year is the equivalent of one worker employed for one year.)  Thus the Act will be a source of both employment and progress on clean energy for years to come.

CEA 042110 Table 3

Christina Romer is the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.

See more about Economy, Energy and Environment  

Preparing our Youth for the Clean Energy Jobs of the Future

Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
April 19, 2010
04:50 PM EST

Growing up on a ranch in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, my parents taught me the importance of hard work, getting an education, and protecting the natural resources that were the source of our livelihood.  Because of their encouragement, my brothers and sisters and I– all eight of us - became first-generation college graduates.

Today, our youth face high unemployment rates, rising health risks such as childhood obesity, and less time spent in the great outdoors. The unemployment crisis facing today’s youth is particularly acute in the African-American and Hispanic communities. 

This afternoon, I spoke at the National Capitol Forum on Hispanic Higher Education, hosted by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), about preparing our nation’s youth – particularly Hispanic youth - for the clean energy jobs of the future. 

The Department of the Interior provides thousands of jobs protecting, conserving and restoring our nation’s natural resources and building a new foundation for the clean energy economy of tomorrow. And, over the next seven years, 40% of our Interior’s workforce will retire. This presents us with both a challenge and an opportunity.  As youth face unprecedented unemployment rates, young Americans are in a unique position to find work in America’s Great Outdoors. The Department of Interior is leading the charge, putting thousands of young people to work, especially during the summer, when they need jobs the most.

But we need to do more than just provide young people with a job; we need to provide them with a career path. Under President Obama’s leadership, building the new clean energy economy will help provide these careers while making America more competitive in the global marketplace. Working with HACU member institutions, we are developing a Conservation Curriculum for colleges and universities that will build a pathway to green careers with a special emphasis on young Latinos and Latinas.

Partnerships like this one will help diversity the workforce for green agencies like Interior, but will also help diversity the clean energy workforce of the future. 

Ken Salazar is Secretary of the Interior

Related Topics: Energy and Environment, Colorado

PERAB: Exports and Job Creation

April 16, 2010 | 1:03:02 | Public Domain

President Obama hosts a public meeting of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Download mp4 (417MB) | mp3 (58MB)
Subscribe

Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment by State

Posted by Christina Romer & Jesse Rothstein on April 16, 2010 at 11:10 AM EST

The CEA’s third quarterly report on the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), released earlier this week, found that the ARRA raised employment as of the first quarter of 2010 by between 2.2 million and 2.8 million jobs over what it would otherwise have been.  There is obviously much interest in how these employment effects have been distributed across states. Our first quarterly report, last summer, developed methods for examining state-level employment impacts.  We have updated those analyses to estimate the number of jobs that the ARRA created or saved in each state as of the first quarter of 2010. 

Estimates for all fifty states, plus the District of Columbia, are reported in Table 1. The methodology is described in detail in a supplement to the third quarterly report.  However, it is important to emphasize that these disaggregate estimates are inherently more speculative and uncertain than are aggregate estimates.

Of course, we estimate that larger states have seen larger jobs impacts, simply because their populations are larger.  Similarly, industrial states are estimated to have had larger employment effects relative to their populations because manufacturing employment is more cyclically sensitive.  Finally, both because of their industrial composition and because state fiscal relief and aid to individuals directly impacted have been larger in states hit harder by the recession, we estimate that states with higher unemployment rates at the time of passage have seen larger employment effects of the ARRA relative to their populations.
The estimates in Table 1 are calibrated to add up to 2.8 million jobs, the estimated employment impact of the ARRA in 2010:Q1 according to one of the two methods that the CEA uses to estimate the ARRA’s impact (see Table 3 of the third quarterly report).

This approach yields somewhat higher overall employment impacts than does our other method, which indicates that 2.2 million jobs were created or saved.  Thus, it is possible that the estimates in Table 1 somewhat overstate the true impacts.  But there is no reason to expect that this would lead to changes in the distribution of jobs impacts across states. 

CEA 041510 State Data Table

 

Christina Romer is the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
Jesse Rothstein is a Senior Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers who focuses on Labor, Education, and Welfare

See more about Economy  

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2010

Statement by the President on Passage of Temporary Extension of Jobless Benefits

“In these tough economic times, it is more critical than ever to bring relief to Americans who are working every day to find a job, and families that are struggling to make ends meet.  Millions of Americans who lost their jobs in this economic crisis depend on unemployment and health insurance benefits to get by as they look for work and get themselves back on their feet.  I’m grateful that the House and Senate moved forward on this temporary extension today.  But as I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year.  I also urge Congress to move forward on legislation to help small businesses grow and hire and other measures to increase the pace of job growth. This is my top priority, and I will fight day and night until every American who wants a good job has one.”

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2010

Statement by the President on Passage of Temporary Extension of Jobless Benefits

“In these tough economic times, it is more critical than ever to bring relief to Americans who are working every day to find a job, and families that are struggling to make ends meet.  Millions of Americans who lost their jobs in this economic crisis depend on unemployment and health insurance benefits to get by as they look for work and get themselves back on their feet.  I’m grateful that the House and Senate moved forward on this temporary extension today.  But as I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year.  I also urge Congress to move forward on legislation to help small businesses grow and hire and other measures to increase the pace of job growth. This is my top priority, and I will fight day and night until every American who wants a good job has one.”

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2010

Declaraciones del Presidente sobre la aprobación de la extensión temporal de beneficios a los desempleados

“En este difícil momento económico, es más importante que nunca brindarles ayuda a los estadounidenses que se esfuerzan todos los días por encontrar trabajo y las familias que pasan dificultades para que les alcance el dinero. Millones de estadounidenses que perdieron su trabajo en esta crisis económica dependen de los beneficios de desempleo y beneficios de seguro médico para subsistir mientras buscan un puesto remunerado y se recuperan económicamente. Agradezco que la Cámara de Representantes y el Senado siguieran adelante hoy con esta extensión temporal. Pero como solicité en mi presupuesto, insto al Congreso a que actúe pronto para extender estos beneficios hasta fines de año. También insto al Congreso a que avance con propuestas legislativas para ayudar a las pequeñas empresas a crecer y contratar empleados, y otras medidas a fin de aumentar el ritmo de la generación de empleo. Ésta es mi principal prioridad, y me esforzaré día y noche hasta que todo estadounidense que quiera un buen trabajo lo tenga”.

###
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 14, 2010

New CEA Report Finds Recovery Act Already Responsible for about 2.5 Million Jobs

Analysis Shows Half of Those Jobs As a Result of Recovery Act Tax Relief and Financial Assistance for Families

WASHINGTON, DC – A new report released today by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) finds that the Recovery Act was responsible for 2.2 to 2.8 million jobs through the first quarter of 2010 – half of which are as a result of the over $200 billion in Recovery Act tax relief and financial assistance that has gone directly to mostly lower and middle-income families.  The report, which is the CEA’s third quarterly analysis on the economic impact of the Recovery Act, shows that Recovery Act tax relief and income supports have had an important impact on real disposable personal income in the last year and are contributing to the program being on-track to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.  The report can be viewed in-full HERE.

“Bolstering the purchasing power of middle class families through Recovery Act tax relief and financial assistance hasn’t just helped the hardest-hit among us – it’s also created over 1 million good American jobs,” said Vice President Joe Biden.  “From tax cuts to construction projects, the Recovery Act is firing on all cylinders when it comes to creating jobs and putting Americans back to work.”

“In addition to shoring up the overall economy, this analysis shows the ways in which the Recovery Act has made a real difference in the lives of families,” said CEA Chair Christina Romer. “The broad set of tax cuts and income supports enacted last year have clearly boosted consumption and employment growth in a way that has been absolutely essential.” 

More than $110 billion in tax relief and $90 billion in other income supports such as unemployment benefits and food assistance were provided directly to individuals and families through March of 2010.  According to the report, without these provisions, household real disposable (or after-tax) income would have fallen substantially in 2009 and consumer spending would not have rebounded as it did.  Instead, income in each of the last three quarters of 2009 actually surpassed its level in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the surge in Recovery Act tax relief this tax season is expected to yield the largest Recovery Act impact on household disposable income yet in the first quarter of 2010.

The report comes at the peak of tax season as American taxpayers are filing to collect on more than a dozen new or expanded tax benefits available this year through the Recovery Act, including an $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Credit, an up to $2,500 American Opportunity Credit for college expenses and up to $1,500 in Residential Energy Credits for some energy-efficient home improvements.  In addition, ninety-five percent of working families are also collecting the up to $800 Making Work Pay tax credit in their paychecks – making it one of the broadest middle class tax cuts in the history of the country.  At the time of the report, millions of Americans had not yet filed their 2009 taxes, indicating an additional economic and employment impact of Recovery Act tax relief is likely in early April as the tax filing deadline approaches. 

The White House recently launched the Tax Savings Tool on WhiteHouse.gov to help taxpayers see for themselves what Recovery Act tax benefits they are owed this year – and how to collect them.  So far, more than 120,000 Americans have already accessed the Tool to generate a customized checklist of the benefits for which they are likely eligible.

The Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009.  The program is a combination of tax relief, financial assistance and infrastructure projects designed to cushion the impact of the downturn and lay a foundation for economic recovery.  Since the Recovery Act began a little over a year ago, the economy has posted its largest quarterly GDP growth in six years and largest monthly job gains in three years.  So far, $525 billion in Recovery Act funds have been obligated, or committed to specific projects, and, of that, $370 billion has been paid out.