October 6, 2006
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Today's latest jobs report only confirms that the Bush economy doesn't work for all hard-working Americans. The economy added only 51,000 jobs in September, according to the Labor Department this morning. The Bush economy has been marked by falling wages and anemic job numbers that don't even keep up with population growth.
"Despite all the election year rhetoric, the facts don't lie; the Bush Economy has failed 80% of Americans, and President Bush just cannot manage America's finances," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary Stacie Paxton. "Parents can't support their families and build a hopeful future for their children in the Bush Economy that is benefiting only the wealthiest, with lousy job growth, falling wages, millions more uninsured and rising poverty.
"Democrats offer a new direction that includes raising the minimum wage, creating good jobs that stay in America, and promoting tax cuts that help the middle class and not special interests."
A Heckuva Jobs Report
Jobs Report Lower Than Forecasted by 72,000. "U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by an estimated 51,000 in September, the Labor Department said Friday. The increase in payrolls was lower than the 123,000 rise expected by Wall Street economists surveyed by MarketWatch." [CBS Marketwatch, 10/6/06]
Manufacturing Continuing Its Long Slide. The manufacturing sector lose 19,000 jobs in September, the third straight monthly decline, according to BLS. The nation has lost manufacturing jobs during 57 of the 69 months of the Bush Presidency. The nearly three million manufacturing jobs lost since January 2001 exceed the total lost in the 22 years before Bush took office. [CBS Marketwatch, 10/6/06; BLS]
Americans Not Benefiting From The Bush Economy
Household Income Declined By Nearly $1,300 Under Bush; Wage And Salary Increases Don't Cover Inflation. Although median household income increased by $509 last year, median household income has declined by $1,273 under the Bush Administration. And the failure of wage and salary increases to cover inflation has meant a real reduction of median income between 2000 and 2005 of 2.7 percent for households. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06]
Full-Time Workers Suffer The Most. The decline in workers' real income was especially pronounced for full-time, year-round workers. For men, median incomes fell by $774 from 2004-2005, and they have seen their incomes drop by $842 during the Bush Administration. For women, median incomes fell by $427 in the last year alone. Incomes in this group fell to their lowest levels since 1997 for men, and lowest level since 2000 for women. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/30/05; Table A-2; Center for American Progress, 8/29/06]
African Americans And Latino Household Incomes Have Declined by Approximately $2,000 Under Bush. Real median household income decreased between 2004 and 2005 for African Americans by $757. Black households had the lowest median income, at $30,858 - down by $2,772 since Bush took office. Median income for Hispanic households was $35,967 in 2005 -down by $1,631 since Bush took office. [U.S. Census Bureau, 8/29/06; Table A-1]
Increasing Number of African Americans Take Low-Wage Jobs. Blacks were the only race/ethnic group to see a growth in poverty-level wage earners over the 2000-05 period. This growth in low-wage work occurred among both men and women. [EPI State of Working America 2006/2007]
Manufacturing Sector Continues to Flounder; 2.9 Million Manufacturing Jobs Lost Since 2001. About 2.9 million jobs have been lost during the Bush Administration. The long employment slide in this key sector is also evident in the hourly wage trends of blue-collar workers. Despite the fact that manufacturing productivity has soared since 2000, up 29 percent, wage growth has slowed sharply. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
Median Income For Non-Elderly Households Declined For 5th Consecutive Year. Median income for non-elderly households (those headed by someone under 65) fell again in 2005, declining by $275. Median income for non-elderly households declined for the fifth consecutive year and was $2,000 lower in 2005 than in the recession year of 2001. [CBPP, 9/1/06]
More than 83 percent Of The New Jobs Created Since August 2003 Are In The Service Sector, Which Pays An average Hourly Wage That Is Lower Than The National Average. More than 4.3 million of the jobs created are in the service sector with an average wage that is 34 cents lower than the national average. More than 363,000 of these jobs are temporary jobs. More than 1.2 million of these jobs were in low-paying domestic industries, such as wait staff in restaurants and bars and retail workers. This means that more than 30 percent of the new jobs created are temporary jobs or in low-paying domestic industries. [Democratic Leadership Staff Analysis of BLS Data, 9/06]
People Who Lose Their Jobs Are Unemployed Longer. In September of 2006, 18.2 percent of the 7.1 million unemployed were jobless for at least half-a-year. Historically, when unemployment has been between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent, the average long-term jobless share has been 11.7 percent; in this recovery, when unemployment has been within those bounds, the long-term jobless rate has been 19.5 percent. [EPI, 9/1/06; BLS 10/06]
Senate GOP Blocked Minimum Wage Vote For 9th Time; Congressional Pay Up $30,000 During Same Period. "The Republican-controlled Senate smothered a proposed election-year increase in the minimum wage Wednesday, rejecting Democratic claims it was past time to boost the $5.15 hourly pay floor that has been in effect for nearly a decade. ... The Senate vote marked the ninth time since 1997 that Democrats there have proposed -- and Republicans have blocked -- an increase in the minimum wage. ... Kennedy also said lawmakers' annual pay has risen by roughly $30,000 since the last increase in the minimum wage." [AP, 6/22/06]
The Record Of Republican Fiscal Mismanagement
Record Surpluses to Record Deficits. Republicans have turned President Clinton's projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit. When this Administration took office, it inherited a projected ten-year surplus (2002-2011) of $5.6 trillion. Based on a realistic estimate of the President's policies, that surplus has now become a $3.3 trillion deficit over the same period of time, a dramatic fiscal reversal of $8.9 trillion. [House Budget Committee, 2/2006]
