White House says jobs could be worse
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Steve Chiotakis: Well the Obama Administration released its latest progress report on the $787 billion economic stimulus package today. The message? We’d be in a much bigger mess without it. Marketplace’s Sam Eaton is with us live in our Los Angeles studio with more. Good morning, Sam.
Sam Eaton: Good morning, Steve.
Chiotakis: So what’s the White House reporting here?
Eaton: Well basically it’s saying that the overall economy and employment are responding to all that stimulus money despite that nagging double-digit unemployment we’re seeing. The report says that in the fourth quarter, the stimulus plan’s tax cuts and spending added about 2 percentage points to the Gross Domestic Product. And looking at all of 2009, it had an even bigger effect on jobs. Here’s Christina Romer, the head of Obama’s Economic Advisors:
Christina Romer: What our estimates are suggesting is in the absence of the recovery act, we would at this point in time be 2 million jobs lower than we are now.
So what she’s saying is yes, unemployment figures are still bad, but they’d be a lot worse without all the stimulus.
Chiotakis: All right, so what’s the projection, Sam, going forward? I mean will the stimulus continue to help job growth or do you think it’s run its course?
Eaton: Well, Romer says she expects continued job creation going into the spring, potentially adding a total of 3.5 million jobs by the end of this year. But she did stress the need for additional action. For example, the House last month approved another $155 billion jobs package. And the Senate is expected to take up its own version of jobs legislation in the coming weeks. A main focus of that legislation is about creating these so-called green jobs — things like putting construction workers back to work weatherizing homes. But no matter what the color, any jobs are needed, consider the economy continues to shed them at a higher than expected rate.
Chiotakis: All right, Marketplace’s Sam Eaton with us in our studio. Sam, thanks.
Eaton: Thanks.
Stories You Might Like
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
