Unfortunately for too many Americans, Labor Day isn’t just a national holiday we celebrate once a year. For them, it’s a holiday celebrated day after day after day. Just in case you haven’t been following the news, the unemployment rate increased to 9.6 percent by the end of August. The private-sector only added about 67,000 jobs…for all you “let the free-market rule” people. The situation continues to be dire.
As a black man, what alarmed me most was the steady and – in many cases – rising unemployment for black folks. Specifically, unemployment for black Americans has risen to 16.3 percent, up 0.7% from last month. For black men, unemployment rose by 0.6% to 17.3%. For black women, unemployment was only up 0.3%, but is still at 13.2%. For black youth, my jaw completely dropped. The unemployment rate for black youth is at a staggering 45.4%.
As we approach the midterm elections, these frightening figures add additional question marks to President Obama’s efforts through the so-called “Summer of Recovery.” I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam on just about every highway in Michigan this summer due to construction (which I thought was supposed to be a good thing), but the job output simply isn’t lining up. This can’t be good news for the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress headed into November.
What’s even worse is the extremely short-memory of the average American voter. I can almost predict that they will put the same party who oversaw the economic collapse back in power. Now, I’m not very thrilled with what the Dems have been doing so far to curb the rising unemployment (a costly and futile stimulus package, wasted money, not focusing on the economy from Day One). But I’m not angry enough at them to put Republicans back in power. I liken that kind of foolishness to curing a painful hangnail by cutting off your finger with a hacksaw.
Despite the numbers, the White House is still pretty optimistic. But as they say, “the proof is in the pudding.” And unfortunately for this administration, the numbers don’t mirror the same optimism they are currently exuding. People are getting restless…and rightly so, when it gets to the point that Labor Day is just one more day they’re not at work. If this carries on, expect to see the Congressional Halls and the Oval Office to go through some major reconstruction of its own.
– ACL
The Unmitigated Word 
It’s gotten pretty sad. I just hope that the pubic remembers where we came from and make a conscious effort not to go back there. I say that positive things have happened since The O-Man took office, despite the bad, and that with another term for him, we can only get better – at least we certainly won’t get back to where we were. It’s pity, too, that we remain stuck in a two-party system. An independent has no hopes of winning a major election. But, right now, we have what we have and I think that to let the Republicans back in so soon would be a grave mistake. Peace.
Obama is still doing fine. Don’t expect anyone to solve your problems and make him responsable for your life. No one will ever be a perfect President as there are too many different people, groups, companies to satisfy. He is doing great but 99% of effort has to come from you if you want to have a better life. Even Jesus got crucified at the end….
@Zac – “Even Jesus got crucified in the end”. So true and relevant, as well. Peace.
Hey Dre,
I’m not sure what you meant by, “The private-sector only added about 67,000 jobs…for all you “let the free-market rule” people.” This hasn’t been anything close to “Free Market”. What it has been is a subsidized, Keynesian economy that I have now named “Demonics”. The problem with throwing money at the problem (I.E. The Recovery Act) is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money and you have created a false economy that is now dependent. Like everything that is dependent, it atrophies and then has a hard time standing on it’s own when the support is removed. That may well be the same problem that African-Americans are experiencing in the job market. The dependency that has been created for blacks in this country has created a perception that blacks are not the ideal employee because of it. If you look at the median income of blacks and hispanics (along with the unemployment rate) you find that they are at the bottom of the earning pile, while asians, middle-easterners and several other groups that don’t depend on the charity of the Democrats out earn even whites. Site; http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2008/oct/wk4/art04.htm