The October unemployment report was released today, and the news is that there's been little overall change. The unemployment rate hovers at 9.6 percent and the U-6, "overall" unemployment rate, which includes discouraged job-seekers and folks forced to work part-time because of the economy, edged down slightly to 17 percent. 151,000 non-farm jobs were created last month, a recent high. In total, the private sector created 159,000 jobs while 8,000 government jobs were lost, which, as Matt Yglesias points out, is exactly what conservatives say they want: less government, more private sector.
It's particularly telling that over the last year, the net increase in employment has been 874,000 jobs, but the private sector has actually created 1.1 million -- the difference comes from including government layoffs in the picture. Imagine what might have happened had government increased hiring during a recession and what that might have meant for the economy.
Election-analysis wise, the jobs report offers us a compelling explanation. The Obama administration wanted voters to appreciate that their efforts have resulted in steady private employment growth:
But voters were apparently more focused on the fact that unemployment has more or less held steady (this is the U-6 unemployment rate mentioned above) :
Going forward, it's increasingly apparent that along with reappointing Ben Bernanke, another major economic mistake made by the administration was falling into the "government can't create jobs" frame offered by Republicans.
-- Tim Fernholz
