The silver lining in June's dismal jobs report

(CBS News) BOSTON - The recession officially ended three years ago, but Friday's jobs report is more proof the recovery is painfully slow.

The June unemployment rate was 8.2 percent, unchanged from May. Employers added just 80,000 jobs.

That's three straight months of disappointing job creation. After a four-month stretch where growth was in the hundreds of thousands, it was the main issue today on the presidential campaign trail.

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Our economy needs to add at least 125,000 new jobs every month just to keep up with population growth. At this pace it could take four more years for the U.S. job market to fully recover from the Great Recession

Mark DiNapoli, a general manager at the Suffolk Construction Company in Boston, just hired 122 people to work on six new projects.

"The men and women in the trades, a lot of them have been without work a long time," DiNapoli said. "We are seeing now after a year and half, two years, that they are really welcoming these opportunities."

But despite the modest pick-up in Boston construction, the number of unemployed Americans and the unemployment rate have basically stayed the same since February.

Michael Darda, a chief economist at MKM Partners, said there is a silver lining in today's lackluster report.

"I don't think we should fall into the trap of thinking that we're headed straight down, that's not the case," Darda said. "We're making progress -- it's just not fast enough to make everybody happy."

Workers added more hours to their week (up 0.1 hour to 34.5 hours) and wages increased slightly (up 0.06 an hour to $23.50 an hour) -- a possible sign of future job growth.

"If we can get a few more months of better jobs figures, those things could self reinforce each other and create a positive feedback loop helping to push the business cycle forward," Darda said.

Back in Boston, DiNapoli plans to keep adding jobs. His company's projects outnumber what they had at the height of the building boom in 2007.

"It is just wonderful to see a project of this nature and many others take off in this city," DiNapoli said.

The broader measure of unemployment numbers, which includes those who have given up their job search and have been forced to work part time, is $14.9 percent -- the highest level since February.

[purplestates]

Vanity Fair and the Associated Press have reported that Mitt Romney has put huge sums of money into investments in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Why is a business man like him open 23 offshore accounts in Bermuda, Cayman Island, Swiss Banks, etc. By the way, Romney has over 100 million dollars in IRA when annual average contribution to IRA is about $16K dollars a year?

"I pick a bank because there's an ATM near my home," Gibbs said. "Romney had a bank account in Switzerland." Why ? Also, "Nobody knows why he has a corporation in Bermuda," said Gibbs.

"He is the first and only candidate for U.S. president with a Swiss bank account, with tax shelters," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "There is just no way to explain it."

If elected, Romney's proposed tax plan would cut tax rates for the wealthy even further by cutting his own taxes and protecting loopholes that he benefits from. At the same time, he opposes the President's Buffett Rule, which would require millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. That's not right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vsAbeGJqVs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktVR-_6B12w&feature=player_embedded

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/08/investigating-mitt-romney-offshore-accounts

[Dreadnut]

The only silver lining I see to these numbers is voting out Pres Fist-Bump in Nov.

[112844]

I have seen alot of comments saying Obama blocked the Keystone Pipeline project. NOT TRUE!!! Lets get the facts straight. The lower half of the pipeline project has been approved. The top half has been held up while investigating a safer route. Approval has been promised as soon as the safer route plans are submitted. Sorry Tea Baggage, but you need to tell the truth and stop your lying.

[Ulgnud]

Obama blocked it, and they started the lower half because his approval wasn't needed for that part. Nice try but facts are facts.

[112844]

I have seen alot of comments saying Obama blocked the Keyline pipe project. NOT TRUE!!! Lets get the facts straight. The lower half of the pipeline project has been approved. The top half has been held up while investigating a safer route. Approval has been promised as soon as the safer route plans are submitted. Sorry Tea Baggage, but you need to tell the truth and stop your lying.

[hdc77494]

The only silver lining to the jobs report is that maybe more people will realize just how incompetent this administration is. He's had three and a half years, and our financial performance is still worse than the depression.

[112844]

Who hires people in The U. S. ? It is not the president. It is the businesses. Who mostly owns the businesses, The Rich Republicans. If the Rich Republicans decide to destroy the U.S. by not hiring people but working thier present employees to death, then try to blame it onthe President, WHO IS AT FAULT ? How many people do you know right now that are working two or three part time jobs? The Rich Republicans hire many part time workers instead of full time because they don't have to pay ANY benifits to part time employees. Learn the FACTS and the TRUTH before you shoot your mouth off or you might just shoot your foot off.

[forumcomments]

Why is it so difficult to understand. Within the last decade or so the US has outsourced approximately 10 million jobs. Corporate America is reporting record earnings. This normally would lead to very low unemployment. If we still had those jobs the gov would be reporting a surplus with record low unemployment. What happens when corporate America starts to report lower earnings? Higher unemployment. We are a retail economy. Even if we have new industries here the norm is to outsource to save money. Get used to high unemployment given our current debt situation and the new norm outsorcing.

[Ulgnud]

Try to explain the silver lining to those who are looking for work. Try to be honest for once. It is a horrible jobs report.

[ludvig1-2009]

The original tea party was about taxation without representation. Today we are taxed way less than we were under the Ike administration. Lincoln himself instituted the income tax to pay for the civil war. What did Bush do, did he raise taxes to pay for the war so all Americans could suffer, or did he cut taxes and only have the military people suffer. By their deeds you will know them.

[hdc77494]

You're confusing marginal rates with actual tax collection. Taxes as a percentage of GDP are way up, and Obama is borrowing more than40% of what he spends on cronies. Your grandkids get to pick up the tab.

[Ulgnud]

The income tax was a temporary tax to fund the war. It would appear there is a difference in the feds and our interpretation of the word "Temporary" If the Feds were limited in their funds they might not be so quick to disobey the US Constitution. There would be no funds for doing so.

[112844]

Lincoln did institute a income tax but it was never collected or inforced. Income tax as we know it today became law in 1917. Just more of the TEA BAGGAGE miss-information, twisted history and out right lies.

[vpcharan]

The economy is much better today by any measure compared with November 08 to July 09 period. The depression was caused during 2001-2008 period. It is ironic that the presumptive GOP candidate is advocating the actions and inactions of the 2001-2008 period. Some of the above comments reflects either lack of knowledge or pure RACISM.

[stevex47]

I like a President who makes jobs, not ships them to China like robme and boosh for 8 years.

robme ships them to China faster than Obama can make them. Then he even ships his profits off shore.

[hdc77494]

Romney didn't export any jobs. He bought companies with bothUS and foreign employees. When a company makes a profit in another country, they first must pay taxes on the earnings there. To bring the money back to the US, they have to pay income taxes a second time on the same profit. Hardly any industrialized forces business to do that. No wonder us companies keep reinvesting profits overseas. Bring it home would be financial suicide.

[Ulgnud]

Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you? Romney isn't in a position to do anything yet. This is Obamas show right now and it is not a pretty sight.