National Republicans are downplaying the latest jobs report, which showed the economy gaining 227,000 jobs in February, suggesting things are still worse than three straight months of solid employment gains indicate.
In a conference call with reporters hosted by the RNC, economist Douglas Holtz Eakin said the current rate of growth was unlikely to be enough to provide work for previously discouraged job seekers now returning to the labor force more optimistic about finding employment. He also expressed concern that the jobs numbers were being inflated by an unusually warm winter, which allows more construction work and encouraged more shopping.
“My concern is that the policies are not going to be enough to generate the jobs necessary for them as they come back in, and as a result the unempyoment rate will at best stay flat and we wont see enough progress over the next year,” he said. “It’s nice when they come back, ut’s way better when they come back to an economy growing back vibrantly enough to accept them.”
As for the RNC’s press office, they openly mocked the notion that the economy was recovering at all.
“The ‘Recovery’ The White House Is Cheering Fails To Bring Down An Unemployment Rate That Has Remained Over 8 Percent For 37 Straight Months,” read the headline of a research biriefing they posted onllne. The subhed: “The Economy Remains Mired In The Malaise Of Obamonomics.”
