Jobs report: Anatomy of a spin war
The US Department of Labor today released the country’s unemployment numbers for the month of June.
Coming amid a congressional debate about the budget deficit and national debt, and a burgeoning campaign between President Obama, a Democrat, and a group of Republican challengers, it was a ripe occasion for all sides to put their spin on the news.
We’ll build out a timeline of the reaction throughout the day:
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8 a.m. – The White House announces an addition to the president’s daily schedule: A 10:35 a.m. statement in the Rose Garden about the June jobs report.
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8:31 a.m. – The Associated Press issues its monthly jobs alert, announcing that employers added the fewest number of jobs in nine months and unemployment rose to 9.2 percent in June.
In a brief story moving a minute later, it added: “The Labor Department says the economy generated only 18,000 net jobs in June. And the number of jobs added in May was revised down to 25,000.
“High gas prices and supply-chain disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis and the weak housing market have slowed the economy. Average hourly wages declined last month. After-tax incomes, adjusted for inflation, have been flat this year.
“Businesses added the fewest jobs in more than a year. Governments cut 39,000 jobs.
“Hiring has slowed sharply in the past two months. The economy added an average of 215,000 jobs per month in the previous three months.’’
Underscoring the unexpectedly glum news, the AP story that had be released at midnight, setting up the impending release of the report, said:
“June may turn out to have been a good month to find a job after all.
“Economists expect hiring to have improved significantly from May, when the economy added just 54,000 jobs.
“The consensus forecast predicts only 90,000 jobs were added in June, according to a survey by FactSet. But a batch of strong economic data this week has inspired some last-minute upward revisions,’’ it said.
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9:21 a.m. – Mitt Romney’s was the first of the GOP candidates to issue a statement reaching the inbox of “Political Intelligence.’’
“Today’s abysmal jobs report confirms what we all know – that President Obama has failed to get this economy moving again,’’ the statement said.
“Just this week, President Obama’s closest White House adviser said that ‘unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers’ do not matter to the average American.
“If David Plouffe were working for me, I would fire him and then he could experience firsthand the pain of unemployment.
“His comments are an insult to the more than 20 million people who are out of work, underemployed or who have simply stopped looking for jobs. With their cavalier attitude about the economy, the White House has turned the audacity of hope into the audacity of indifference,’’ said Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.
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9:31 a.m. – Republican presidential contender Tim Pawlenty issues a statement … recounting Karl Rove’s positive assessment of his new television ad in Iowa on last night’s edition of “Hannity’’ program on the Fox News Channel.
“I like it. It is a conviction ad and says here’s what I have done as governor and puts his experience up against anybody else in the crowd,’’ said Rove.
“There’s a little bit of a hint of a Romney thing there, a little Chris Christie note with the I took on the unions. Again, a good introductory ad.
“And again, his buy, we don’t know exactly the details on the buy. But he had a pretty substantial buy with this it appears, and he’s now up with a second ad, and that shows he’s going to be serious about contesting Iowa,’’ the statement concluded.
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9:41 a.m. – Priorities USA Action, the outside group that is raising money to advertise on behalf of Obama’s campaign, blamed the Republican Party for the bad news:
“Republicans are playing a reckless and irresponsible game with the American economy,’’ said Bill Burton, a former White House spokesman and senior strategist for the group.
“Hundreds of days after taking control of the House, Republicans have done nothing but stand in the way of progress on the economy. Every day they obstruct progress it seems more and more as if they believe they benefit politically if they hurt America economically.
“They need to meet the president halfway and put creating jobs for the middle class ahead of protecting tax loopholes for corporate special interests,’’ Burton said.
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9:43 a.m. – A tweet from Tim Miller, a top adviser to GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, relays a statement from his boss:
“Rising unemployment rates and extremely anemic job creation are not acceptable,’’ said Huntsman, the former governor of Utah.
“Even in great hardship, the American people have been extraordinarily patient in waiting for the better and brighter times promised to them by this administration. Their patience has rightly worn thin.
“We need free-market, pro-growth policies to spark a wave of job growth – the same policies we implemented in Utah to make it the fastest-growing state in the nation. America needs new leadership to turn our country around,’’ he said.
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9:55 a.m. – Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, gives the first hint of White House reaction in a statement.
The final line was especially interesting:
“Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 57,000 in June and the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2 percent. While the private sector has added 2.2 million jobs over the past 16 months, this month’s report reflects the recent slowdown of economic growth due to headwinds faced in the first half of this year,’’ he said.
“The unemployment rate remains unacceptably high and faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Today’s report underscores the need for bipartisan action to help the private sector and the economy grow – such as measures to extend the payroll tax cut, pass the pending free trade agreements, and create an infrastructure bank to help put Americans back to work. It also underscores the need for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that instills confidence and allows us to live within our means without shortchanging future growth.
“Overall payroll employment rose by just 18,000 in June. Sectors with employment increases included leisure and hospitality (+34,000), health care (+13,500), and manufacturing (+6,000). Sectors with employment declines included government (-39,000), financial activities (-15,000), and construction (-9,000). Manufacturing has added 251,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, the best period of manufacturing job growth in over a decade. Meanwhile, local governments lost 18,000 jobs in June and have shed 355,000 jobs since the start of 2010.
“The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report,’’ said Goolsbee.
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10:06 a.m. – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Burton in calling on the Republicans to help address lingering joblessness:
“Today’s jobs report makes it clear: more must be done to create jobs and strengthen our middle class. Republicans must join Democrats to focus squarely on Americans’ top priority – putting people back to work,’’ said Pelosi.
“In the six months since Republicans have been in charge of the House, they have failed to bring a single jobs bill to the floor or offer a clear jobs plan. Democrats have forced 10 votes on job-creation measures in this Congress – and Republicans have voted ‘no’ each time.
“Democrats know that creating jobs must be job number one for this Congress, yet Republicans continue to push their plan to end Medicare in order to give billions in tax breaks to Big Oil and corporations that ship American jobs overseas. And now, they are putting our entire economy at risk – by threatening to let our nation default for the first time, injecting uncertainty into the economy, and demanding we balance our budget on the backs of seniors and the middle class.
“We are ready to work together on a balanced, bipartisan approach to bring down our debt, while creating jobs, strengthening the middle class, and growing our economy,’’ said the minority leader.
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10:12 a.m. – Romney issues his second statement of the day on the jobs report, reiterating his criticism of Plouffe and expanding with graphics reminding the public that Obama’s advisers had predicted the administration’s stimulus program would keep unemployment below 8 percent.
Today’s figure pegged it at 9.2 percent for June.
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10:16 a.m. – Pawlenty also issues his second statement of the day – but the first one giving his reaction to the joblessness numbers.
It was succinct.
“President Obama is out of answers and running out of time,’’ the former Minnesota governor said.
“His policies are not creating the necessary jobs and he has no plan to do anything about it. We will have continued anemic growth and disappointing job creation so long as Barack Obama is president.
“I will turn around the economy as president by setting bold growth goals and implementing specific proposals to achieve them,’’ said Pawlenty.
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10:34 a.m. – US Senator Scott Brown becomes the first member of the Massachusetts delegation to issue a statement reaching the “Political Intelligence’’ inbox.
“Today’s dismal job numbers should serve as a wake-up call that people across this country are still hurting,’’ the Republican said.
“Unfortunately, Washington still doesn’t get it. Job creation is my top priority, and I will continue working with people of goodwill on both sides of the political aisle on policies that will get our economy and country moving again,’’ said Brown.
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10:36 a.m. – Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich issues a statement – outlining his public schedule for next week.
It includes planned visits to Iowa and South Carolina, two pivotal early voting states.
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11:05 a.m. Against a backdrop of the US and presidential flags in the Rose Garden, Obama arrives a half-hour behind schedule to personally address the jobs report.
While the public waited, the cable networks had split-screen coverage between the White House and Cape Canaveral, where the last shuttle launch countdown was underway.
The president said restoring the nation’s economy was his top priority:
“Today’s job report confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and the opportunity they deserve,’’ Obama said.
As he did during his news conference and Twitter Town Hall earlier in the week, the president said the lingering economic issues should propel action on the debt and deficit issues, and push Congress to pass legislation that could boost employment.
He highlighted a series of bills upon which he said there was congressional concensus but not yet action.
He said such action will give businesses “the certainty they need’’ to resume hiring.
And on a personal appeal, he said the American people expected leaders in Washington to do their business.
“I’m ready to roll up my sleeves,’’ Obama said, and he believes congressional leaders are, too.
By the time the president finished, the countdown clock for the Atlantis launch was under 14 minutes.
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11:43 a.m. – Another member of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, US Representative John Tierney of Salem, released a letter to House Speaker John Boehner urging him to re-focus on jobs legislation in the aftermath of the report.
“Any number of fiscally responsible and common sense measures to invest in our infrastructure, assist small businesses, spur innovation, and promote job training could be brought to the House floor for a vote in the coming weeks,’’ wrote Tierney. “Millions of unemployed Americans are counting on us to take swift action on their behalf, and I believe such action is long overdue.’’
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3:15 p.m. – How much is this issue in Romney’s campaign wheelhouse?
The former businessman running on the strength of his reputation as a turnaround artist has issued his third news release of the day about the jobs report.
“PRESIDENT OBAMA’S WHITE HOUSE IN CHAOS,’’ was the none-too-subtle headline.
It included the whopper statement earlier in the week, in which Obama himself conceded, “I think even I did not realize the magnitude, because most economists didn’t realize the magnitude, of the recession until fairly far into it, maybe two or three months into my presidency.’’
It also included Goolsbee’s comment to reporters today that, if the administration got its financial wishlist, unemployment by the fall of 2012 would be 8.2 percent – still the highest rate in 25 years.
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