“Drats… foiled again!”
Those are likely the words of many Republicans today, who were counting on high unemployment numbers to derail President Obama’s chances for a 2nd term. But on Friday, the Labor Department issued a welcomed report that a recent hiring boost now has unemployment down to a surprising 8.3% — the lowest in 3 years!!!
When the wildly popular Barack Obama swept into the Oval Office in 2009, Republicans vowed to become the “Party of NO,” opting to oppose the president as much as possible in hopes of ruining his political future. Despite various proposals from the White House and congressional Democrats to help joblessness, Republicans fought the president at every turn in order to derail him. They opposed extending unemployment benefits, they turned their backs on the “99ers” (the group that exhausted all of their unemployment benefits), they declined to extend the debt ceiling and more. For a long while their plan worked and provided them with ammunition to take into the 2012 election. But now that plan is crumbling.
The United States added 243,000 jobs in January, by far more than most economists expected. The high-salary professional services industry added 70,000 jobs, which is the most in 10 months, while manufacturing added 50,000 jobs, which is the most in a year!
Looks like Republicans will have to scramble back to their drawing board and find some other way to hopefully beat Mr. Obama in the fall. If the jobless rate continues to drop, or at the very least remains the same, it will be another disappointing election season for the GOP.
Ok now how will spin this one Repubs? Keeping the economy bad is your whole play book. If it keeps getting better whats your argument to get a new president then?