Obama Says Administration Pursuing More Jobs

President Barack Obama said his administration will continue to pursue measures that will stimulate job growth after the Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent last month.


The president made his remarks after signing into law a measure extending an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and benefits for unemployed workers. It also provides tax refunds to money-losing companies. His spokesman said the administration expects the jobless rate will continue to rise before coming down again.

“My economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to encourage families and businesses to make buildings more energy efficient,” additional tax cuts, and more steps to ease the flow of credit to small business and promote exports, he said.
Employers have shed 7.3 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, 3.5 million of those since Obama took office in January. Obama called the October jobs report “a sobering number that underscores the challenge that lies ahead.”

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at a later briefing that the administration expects the unemployment rate will get “a little worse before it gets better.”

Political Peril 

The jobless rate carries political peril for Obama if the figure remains high in the months preceding the mid-term congressional elections a year from now.

The economy was listed as the most important issue facing the country by 47 percent of the American public in a CNN poll conducted Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, surpassing health care and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Although it will take time and will take patience, I’m confident that our economy will recover,” Obama said.

The legislation Obama signed will funnel an estimated $45 billion into the economy this year. It is the first major expansion of provisions in February’s $787 billion economic stimulus package. The bill would extend until April 30 the tax credit for first-time homebuyers that would otherwise expire at the end of this month.

The jobless would get as many as 20 additional weeks of unemployment assistance. Companies would be given expanded ability to apply losses to previous years’ income, allowing them to qualify this year for $33 billion in tax refunds, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation.

The 10.2 percent jobless rate in October is a 26-year high, up from 9.8 percent in September. The Labor Department said employers cut 190,000 jobs last month, more than the 175,000 expected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The jobless rate exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983.

- Via Bloomberg