In this newsletter you will find news from the district, along with my blog post on the most recent unemployment report, focusing on the record number of people who have dropped out of the labor force. You will also find information on the “Give Back, Pay it Forward” event taking place to collect donations for the Red Cross following last year’s tornado disasters.
Please share this newsletter with your friends and family via email using the “Tell a Friend” form in the right sidebar, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Visit my website, ellmers.house.gov, for more from Washington and the Second District.
Hope and Change Replaced by Hopelessness
When President Obama ran for office in 2008, he promised to bring the country “hope” and “change.”
He certainly delivered change, but not for the better. The unemployment rate has gone from 7.8 percent in January of 2009 to a high of 10.1 percent in October of 2009. Jim Pethokoukis recently noted we have experienced “the longest streak of 8%-plus unemployment since the Great Depression” and “the U.S. economy hasn’t been below 8% unemployment since Obama took office in January 2009.”
In the U.S. Department of Labor’s March 2012 Employment Situation report released last Friday, unemployment figures show the rate dropping to 8.2%, but the number of people not in the labor force is at an all time high – 87,897,000. When Obama took office in 2009, there were approximately 81 million not in the labor force.
The Wall Street Journal reported last weekend that “the jobless rate, which is obtained from a separate survey of households, edged down to 8.2% from 8.3%, its lowest point in three years. However, that decline was due less to new hiring than people abandoning their job searches.”
According to the report, 120,000 jobs were created, but an additional 164,000 people dropped out of the labor force. The current unemployment rate, if calculated to account for the number of people who would like to work, but have given up looking, would be even higher. The “hope” so many had in 2008 has been replaced with hopelessness.
House Republicans have passed legislation that promotes economic growth and removes barriers that hinder America’s job creators. The bipartisan JOBS Act was recently passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law.
Learn more about how the Republican jobs plan and budget cuts spending, fixes our tax code, removes excessive regulation and expands American energy production at jobs.GOP.gov. Track the full list of House-passed jobs bills on this page at ellmers.house.gov.
Around the District
Last week, I attended the opening ceremony and reception of the dedication of the Kennedy Yarborough statue at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. The statue was commissioned by Ross Perot.
“The idea behind the statue is to honor one of the founders of modern Special Forces — (Lieutenant) General Yarborough — and to honor President John F. Kennedy not only for his presidency, but also for his service in World War II,” explained Perot. You can read more about the statue and the event at the U.S. Army website.
“Give Back, Pay it Forward”
Next Monday marks the one year anniversary of the deadly tornadoes that devastated so many parts of the Second District and the state. Lowe’s in Sanford, which was destroyed in the storms and has been rebuilt, is hosting a “Give Back, Pay it Forward” event to benefit the American Red Cross. Lowe’s is collecting donations for the Red Cross through April 18th.
Representatives from the Red Cross will be in the Sanford store Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to talk about preparing for disasters. On Monday, the Red Cross will be hosting a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. You can find more information about the event in this article at WRAL.com.