Beat the Press

Beat the press por Dean Baker

Beat the Press is Dean Baker's commentary on economic reporting. He is a Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). To never miss a post, subscribe to a weekly email roundup of Beat the Press. Please also consider supporting the blog on Patreon.

Many European social democracies have consistently had lower unemployment rates than the United States.
Many European social democracies have consistently had lower unemployment rates than the United States.
Workers’ prospects will be further enhanced if Biden’s bill passes since it will hugely increase the amount of security they have. 
Workers’ prospects will be further enhanced if Biden’s bill passes since it will hugely increase the amount of security they have. 

The August jobs report was somewhat disappointing. The economy added only 235,000 jobs for the month, just 48,000 more than the 187,000 pre-pandemic monthly average under Trump. Seriously, most of us did expect more jobs (my number had been 500,000), but after two months where job growth averaged more than 1 million, some falloff should have been expected, even without the impact of the Delta variant.

Anyhow, it’s time to see how the economy’s job performance under Biden stacks up against its performance under Trump. As I always say, this is silly since there are so many things that are beyond the president’s control, so the comparison really is not telling us much. But, you know if the situation were reversed, Donald Trump would be touting this graph to the sky. He probably would even have a huge neon version on top of Trump Tower.

So, here’s where we stand now. Including the August number, and the 135,000 upward revision to growth for the prior two months, Biden has now created 4.5 million jobs in the first seven months of his presidency.  Trump lost 2.9 million jobs over his four years in office.

 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Author’s calculations.

The August jobs report was somewhat disappointing. The economy added only 235,000 jobs for the month, just 48,000 more than the 187,000 pre-pandemic monthly average under Trump. Seriously, most of us did expect more jobs (my number had been 500,000), but after two months where job growth averaged more than 1 million, some falloff should have been expected, even without the impact of the Delta variant.

Anyhow, it’s time to see how the economy’s job performance under Biden stacks up against its performance under Trump. As I always say, this is silly since there are so many things that are beyond the president’s control, so the comparison really is not telling us much. But, you know if the situation were reversed, Donald Trump would be touting this graph to the sky. He probably would even have a huge neon version on top of Trump Tower.

So, here’s where we stand now. Including the August number, and the 135,000 upward revision to growth for the prior two months, Biden has now created 4.5 million jobs in the first seven months of his presidency.  Trump lost 2.9 million jobs over his four years in office.

 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Author’s calculations.

Senator Manchin wants to pretend that this climate debt does not exist. He only wants to look at the debt that comes from the government directly borrowing money.
Senator Manchin wants to pretend that this climate debt does not exist. He only wants to look at the debt that comes from the government directly borrowing money.
To my mind, this is a silly debate, starting with the idea that we should be concerned about inequalities in wealth resulting from low interest rates. That one is a bit hard for me to see.
To my mind, this is a silly debate, starting with the idea that we should be concerned about inequalities in wealth resulting from low interest rates. That one is a bit hard for me to see.
This article on the $3.5 trillion budget outline didn't mention once that the spending would be over ten years.
This article on the $3.5 trillion budget outline didn't mention once that the spending would be over ten years.
Having argued the case for the importance of regulating finance, let me say that I still see it as very much a secondary consideration in the selection of the Fed chair.
Having argued the case for the importance of regulating finance, let me say that I still see it as very much a secondary consideration in the selection of the Fed chair.
If the nonsense coming from the vaccine resisters can be effectively countered, we should be able to reach vaccination rates comparable to Denmark’s in the not distant future.
If the nonsense coming from the vaccine resisters can be effectively countered, we should be able to reach vaccination rates comparable to Denmark’s in the not distant future.
The problem is that we have made many changes to the economy that shifted huge amounts of income upward, so that we cannot support a pay structure that gives workers at the bottom $52,000 a year. This is the whole point of my book, Rigged.
The problem is that we have made many changes to the economy that shifted huge amounts of income upward, so that we cannot support a pay structure that gives workers at the bottom $52,000 a year. This is the whole point of my book, Rigged.
Nominal wages have been rising rapidly for workers at the bottom of the pay ladder in recent months. This has allowed workers in the lowest paying jobs to see substantial increases in real wages, in spite of the uptick in inflation the last few months.
Nominal wages have been rising rapidly for workers at the bottom of the pay ladder in recent months. This has allowed workers in the lowest paying jobs to see substantial increases in real wages, in spite of the uptick in inflation the last few months.

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