Amid positive jobs numbers, politicians hedge bets – NBC40.net

By JIM KUHNHENN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - The top jobs numbers for June would have seemed to be cause for some appreciation. After all, the unemployment rate dipped to 6.1 percent, the lowest in six years, and hiring showed five months of steady growth.

But the public continues to perceive the economy as poor.

So, heading into a midterm campaign season, the politicians on Thursday hedged their bets and pointed fingers.

"In the voting booth, economic perception beats economic statistics every time," Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.

Indeed, after five months of steady job growth and after hitting a six-year low in unemployment, the reaction in Washington Thursday was a collective, "Yeah, but ..."

Even President Barack Obama, who would be eager to take credit for an economy on the mend, felt compelled to throw in a dampening caveat as he drew attention to the 288,000 jobs created in June, to the lower 6.1 percent unemployment rate and to the fastest job growth since 1999.

"As much progress as has been made, there are still folks out there who are struggling," he said Thursday. "We still have not seen as much increase in income and wages as we'd like to see. A lot of folks are still digging themselves out of challenges that arose out of the Great Recession."

To be sure, there are real economic reasons to be wary, or at least not euphoric, over the most recent report.

The labor market remains weak, with a labor force participation rate stuck at 62.8 percent, the lowest since 1978. Construction jobs reached their highest since June 2009 but are still more than 1.7 million jobs below its 2006 peak, according to an analysis of jobs numbers by the Associated General Contractors of America.

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Amid positive jobs numbers, politicians hedge bets - NBC40.net