Jobs have become a focal point of the Presidential election. President Obama talks about how the economy is recovering and is gaining jobs, compared to when he took office and we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month.
Governor Romney says he can do better and create more jobs - 12 million jobs in his first term. Whether it's doable is the question for voters to decide.
Job Creation
FactCheck.org reports that the economy had "...lost nearly 4.5 million jobs in the year before Obama became president, and it lost another 4.3 million before hitting bottom a year later, in February 2010." In January 2009, before the President took office, 810,000 jobs were lost. All those jobs, and then some, have been regained.
Here's more information from the candidates on jobs and the economy:
Where has the job growth come from? Leading job site Indeed.com has collected more data on what has happened with the job market in the last several years. Here is a list of industries that have had positive increases in the amount of job postings between January, 2009 and September, 2012:
- Hospitality – 129.22% increase
- Transportation – 116.70% increase
- Education – 116.97% increase
- Construction – 85.49% increase
- Manufacturing – 83.32% increase
The overall gain in jobs, approximately 325,000, is obviously not enough and the monthly jobs report, while showing growth isn't significant growth. The question for voters to consider is whether the steady progress in the right direction is the right path to follow. Or, can Mitt Romney jumpstart the job market and improve the job market in a meaningful way?
Unemployment
What neither candidate seems to be talking about is what is going to happen with unemployment at the end of the year. Unemployment was down slightly (7.8%) last month, but there are still millions of unemployed Americans, many of whom have run out of unemployment benefits or will run out when the unemployment extensions run out at the end of the year.
Starting in 2013, the only unemployment benefits any worker will be eligible for are the maximum of 26 weeks of state unemployment. All federal extensions will be cut-off (rather than phased out) for all people collecting extended benefits at the end of December.
Read More: FactCheck,org Obama's Numbers | Unemployment 2013
