White House says predictions were accurate
White House administrators are saying that the estimates for how many jobs the economic stimulus plan will create or save are right on target. Officials project the package will save about 3.5 million jobs.
Estimates when the package was announced said the $787 billion stimulus package would save or create between 3 million and 4 million jobs.
Yes, there’s a catch
While officials predict that 3.5 million jobs will be saved or created by the stimulus package, they agree that it’s possible the unemployment rate will still get higher at the same time.
Job loss may be so steep that the number of jobs lost will exceed the number of jobs created and saved. Thus, the unemployment rate will be lower than it would otherwise, but it could still climb higher than the current 8.9 percent national unemployment rate.
Time frame
The projection regarding number of jobs saved or created applies through the end of 2010. So don’t go out and get cash advance loans thinking you’ll get another job before it’s time to pay it back. This is going to take a while.
The report says that 1.5 million jobs will be created or saved by the end of this year.
Possible further action
According to a report by Reuters:
The official said the administration was monitoring closely the results of the $787 billion spending and tax-cut package to determine whether additional actions are needed as “mid-term” economic forecasts are prepared by the White House.
The official who spoke to Reuters, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the stimulus program, said further action likely won’t be needed, but it will be taken if necessary:
“At this point we think that we’ve taken the right steps and (the plan) is going to do what it needs to do for the American people, but the president always said we’ll do what it takes. So we will very much be watching,” said the official.
Current unemployment
According to Reuters:
On Friday, the Labor Department said U.S. employers shed 539,000 jobs in April, pushing up the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983.
Currently, Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the United States, followed by Oregon. Both states have unemployment rates higher than 12 percent.
As of March, the United States economy had already shed 4.4 million jobs. A Special Report from CNN Money reminds us that the unemployment rate only counts those who are filing for unemployment benefits.
Almost one out of six members of the labor force are either unemployed, working part-time when they would prefer to work full-time, or are out of work and have become so discouraged that they did not look for work and thus not counted in the unemployed total. That’s the highest reading in that measure that goes back to 1994, says CNN.
It had better on target. Our deficit this year is supposed to be almost $2 trillion. The government is also supposed to be borrowing 46 cents out of every dollar they are spending with this stimulus package. I know that government spending doesn’t ever seem to make an impact, but with this amount of spending something big had better get done other than the entire US going bankrupt, which seems the way it’s heading.