Council of Economic Advisers Blog

  • Chairman Alan Krueger Gives Challenges to the Statistical Community at 2012 American Statistical Association Conference

    On July 30, 2012, President Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger, delivered remarks on “Six Challenges for the Statistical Community” at the American Statistical Association’s 2012 Joint Statistical Meeting in San Diego, California.

    In his remarks, Chairman Krueger gave six challenges that are important for the statistics and policy communities.

    Read Chairman Kreuger’s remarks.

  • The Employment Situation in May

    Problems in the job market were long in the making and will not be solved overnight. The economy lost jobs for 25 straight months beginning in February 2008, and over 8 million jobs were lost as a result of the Great Recession.  We are still fighting back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 

    Today we learned that the economy has added private sector jobs for 27 straight months, for a total of 4.3 million payroll jobs over that period. The economy is growing but it is not growing fast enough. BLS’s establishment survey shows that private businesses added 82,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 69,000. The unemployment rate ticked up from 8.1 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May, according to BLS’s household survey. However, the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage point to 63.8 percent, and employment rose by 422,000 according to the household survey. 

    There is much more work that remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and deep recession that began at the end of 2007. Just like last year at this time, our economy is facing serious headwinds, including the crisis in Europe and a spike in gas prices that hit American families’ finances over the past months.  It is critical that we continue the President’s economic policies that are helping us dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession. 

    In the American Jobs Act and in the State of the Union Address, the President put forward a number of proposals to create jobs and strengthen the economy, including proposals that would put teachers back in the classroom and cops on the beat, and put our nation’s construction workers back on the job rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.  The President has also proposed a To-Do List of actions that Congress should take to create jobs and help restore middle-class security.  This includes eliminating tax incentives to ship jobs overseas, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can refinance, giving small businesses that increase employment or wages a 10 percent income tax credit, investing in affordable clean energy, and helping returning veterans find work.  The President is in Minneapolis today to announce a new executive action that will establish private sector partnerships to help military service members acquire recognized occupational credentials—as welders, as machinists, and ultimately in a broader range of occupations. These partnerships will help service members find private sector jobs once they leave the military, and they will help firms in manufacturing and other industries that need workers to fill their vacant positions. 

    Manufacturing employment continues to expand and manufacturers added 12,000 jobs in May. After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the recession, the economy has added 495,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010--the strongest growth for any 28-month period since April 1995.  To continue the revival in manufacturing jobs and output, the President has proposed tax incentives for manufacturers, enhanced training for the workforce, and measures to create manufacturing hubs and encourage the growing trend of insourcing. 

    Other sectors with net job increases included education and health services (+46,000), transportation and warehousing (+35,600), wholesale trade (+15,900), and temporary help services (+9,200). Construction lost 28,000 jobs, accounting services lost 14,000 jobs, government lost 13,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality lost 9,000 jobs.  State and local governments shed 8,000 jobs, mostly in education. 

    As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is helpful to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available.

     

     

  • The Employment Situation in April

     

    Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but much more remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and the deep recession.  It is critical that we continue the economic policies that are helping us dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began at the end of 2007.  President Obama has said that prosperity in America has always come from a strong and growing middle class.  He has made clear that getting back to where we were is not enough. We need to do more, which is why the President has laid out his blueprint for an American economy that is built to last and will continue to urge Congress to act to do more to grow the economy and create jobs.

    Private employer payrolls increased by 130,000 jobs in April, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 115,000.  The unemployment rate dipped from 8.2% in March to 8.1% in April, according to the household survey.  Though labor force participation fell over the month according to the household survey, since August the unemployment rate has fallen by 1.0 percentage point, from 9.1% to 8.1%, and nearly three-quarters of that drop is attributable to increased employment.

    Despite adverse shocks that have created headwinds for economic growth the economy has added private sector jobs for 26 straight months, for a total of 4.25 million payroll jobs over that period.  With upward revisions of 65,000 jobs to the past two months’ employment reports, in the first quarter of 2012 private employment expanded by 697,000 jobs, the largest quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2006.  So far this year, 827,000 private sector jobs have been added, on net.

  • Chairman Alan Krueger Discusses Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit

    At 9:15 EDT on Thursday, April 26, 2012, President Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger delivered remarks on “Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit” at the Columbia University in New York City, New York.

    In his prepared remarks, Chairman Krueger said:

    I will address problems in the U.S. labor market and President Obama’s blueprint to fix them.  My theme is that it will take a concerted national effort to reverse the problems that have been building in the job market for decades, and, although much more work needs to be done; we have made progress in the last few years.

    Krueger added that:

    The United States has considerable strengths that should help us to reverse the middle-class jobs deficit.  It is imperative for policymakers to develop and promote these strengths to create an expanding middle class and provide more opportunity for more young people, regardless of their family backgrounds.  As President Obama has stressed, this is the defining issue of our times. We face a critical moment in which we can pursue a path that leads to a more durable economy and growing opportunities for all Americans, or we can return to the policies that eroded the middle class and tilted an ever-increasing share of income into the hands of a fortunate few, who were allowed to play by their own rules.

  • Watch the Launch of the Center on Global Economic Governance Live

    Ed. note: This event has ended.

    At 9:15 am EDT watch President Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger, deliver a keynote address on “Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit” at Columbia University’s new Center on Global Economic Governance. Chairman Krueger’s will discuss the three main jobs crises the country faced when President Obama took office and what his Administration is doing to address these imbalances.

  • Alan Kruger to Speak on Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit

    Thursday, April 26: Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) will deliver a speech on Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit. 

    WASHINGTON – At 9:15 am EDT on Thursday, April 26, 2012, President Obama’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Alan B. Krueger, will deliver a keynote address at Columbia University’s new Center on Global Economic Governance. 
     
    Chairman Krueger’s remarks titled “Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit,” will discuss the three main jobs crises the country faced when President Obama took office and what his Administration is doing to address these imbalances.

    This event will be live-streamed on the White House Council of Economic Advisers blog and linked to from WhiteHouse.gov/live.

    WHO:             Alan B. Krueger, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
     
    WHAT:          Remarks on "Reversing the Middle-Class Jobs Deficit"
     
    WHEN:          9:15 am EDT, Thursday, April 26, 2012
     
    WHERE:       Rotunda, Low Memorial Library, Columbia University, New York, NY

     

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