Romney finds new way to keep old 8 percent unemployment rate talking point

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in the rain during a rally in Newport News, Virginia, on October 8, 2012. / Getty Images

NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia Although the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent in September, Mitt Romney is not planning to give up one of his favorite talking points - that the United States saw "43 straight months with unemployment above 8 percent" under the Obama presidency.

After it was announced on Friday that the unemployment fell below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years, Mitt Romney struggled to come up with a new way to talk about the jobless numbers.

He first tried to blame the drop in the rate on "the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work" - an inaccurate assessment. Then, he shifted his focus to a new number - 11 percent.

'If the...participation of our adults in the workforce were the same as at the time (Obama) got elected, why our unemployment rate would be about 11 percent," Romney said while campaigning in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday evening, almost 12 hours after the new unemployment rate was announced.

But neither argument seemed to resonate quite as strongly as the old talking point, and so Romney decided to bring it back - but with a twist.

"We've seen the slowest recovery from a recession in history," Romney said here Monday to a crowd listening to him in the pouring rain. "As a matter of fact, I just read that if you look back 60 years, and you look at all the months we had with unemployment about 8 percent before President Obama, there were 39 months in all 60 years with unemployment above 8 percent. With this president, there've been 43 months under one president alone. He does not understand what it takes to create a real recovery. I do."

The Romney campaign cited records from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that since 1948, the jobless rate was at or above 8 percent for all of 1975 and from November 1981 to January 1984 - a total of 39 months. After Obama took office, the rate went above 8 percent in February 2009 and stayed there until last month, for a total of 43 months.

The 60-year time frame does not include the Great Depression, when unemployment was above 10 percent for more than a decade. Economists have said the recession the country is digging out of now was the worst since the Depression.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

If they (Both Parties) don't start addressing the real problems in our country like "out-sourcing", illegal immigration and the out of control costs of health care insurance, by the next election - American citizens may just have to run a nation-wide campaign to vote every single incumbent elected official out of office, so that maybe they'll finally get the message.

Wouldn't it be More Productive if Our Elected Leaders Started Working Together as AMERICANS for AMERICANS and AMERICA, instead of just bickering, stalling and posturing for the next election as democrats and republicans! The American People have had it with this unproductive BS! The sad thing is that both parties stink! Neither party is really looking out for the best interest of the US citizens who elect them and who they're supposed to represent.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

The so called "Global Market Place" is not a level playing field. Companies may have made higher profits by "out sourcing", but they've been putting middle class Americans who are a good part of the world's customer base out of work. I'm not a lefty or member of any union. I run a business that employs over 20 people and produces products that are purchased by customers that do manufacturing and packaging. I'm just an average Joe, but I've been saying this for more than 10 years now. If I can see it, so can our so called leaders (political leaders) who are beholden to the same people who are exporting our jobs.

We need to add tariffs that are proportionate to the inequities in wages and regulations in the country where the goods were produced and or where we're importing them from. We could then use the money raised by these tariffs to help companies build state of the art manufacturing plants here in the USA, which would create more jobs here at home for US citizens, which would then in turn increase our income tax revenue.

The people with all of the excuses as to why we can't or aren't willing to manufacture products here in the US are the same people who have provided us with the thinking that's gotten us into this mess in the first place.

Over the past 15-20 years, I've seen too many of our customer's close manufacturing plants here in the USA and move those plants to different countries, decimating entire areas here in OUR COUNTRY. And I'm not alone. Returning jobs to American Citizens will provide income tax revenue to OUR Government versus our government having to pay unemployment benefits to those who would be jobless instead.

Bringing manufacturing back to the US not only gives jobs to the US citizens who would be working in those manufacturing facilities, but to the people that would be working in the businesses that would spring up all around them. This should also include the safe harvesting, production and distribution of our own natural energy here in the USA, rather than paying for fuel from countries where they hate us. Let's keep that money and those jobs here in the US.

These so-called "free trade agreements" have to go. It was obvious when they were passing these agreements as to what was going to happen and sure enough it did. Our leaders had to have known this as well when they were passing these bills. It's just common sense. We also need to bring customer support services back to the United States of America and staff them with employees who are US Citizens.

The "Global Market Place" is not a level playing field! The whole idea of the tariffs is so we can pay our factory workers a decent wage and not be blown out by these other countries where they don't play by the same rules.

We may have to pay a bit more for products made here in the USA by US citizens, but at least we'll still have jobs and a future for our children.

The bottom line is that "Our Government" has to protect American industry and the jobs that those industries provide. If they do that, the rest will take care of itself.

[Protect_US_Jobs]

Our economic problems didn't happen overnight. It's been happening over the past 15-20 years, but the economy was kept going by middle class Americans tapping into the equity on their homes until they were completely tapped out.

Both parties have sold out the bulk of the American citizens, who they're supposed to represent, by allowing the "out-sourcing" floodgates to open wider and wider without taking any sensible measures to stem the tide. (Under Clinton jobs to China, Under Bush I & II influx of illegals or cheap easily abused labor into the US and jobs to Mexico/NAFTA) Our leaders are elected by the Citizens of the United States of America to represent the interests of those citizens and the country itself. They are NOT elected by the Global Market Place or foreign citizens!

It shouldn't be all about Democrats or Republicans! It should be about doing the right thing for our country and the majority of its citizens. I consider myself an independent voter, but going back to the Reagan days and with the only exception having been Perot, I've always voted Republican. But all this single-minded, left versus right, ideological one dimensional bull has got to go! This is the problem with our country. It shouldn't be about Democrats or Republicans! It should be about Americans, especially our elected officials, doing the right thing for our country and its citizens.

We need whoever wins the next election to Start Protecting American Jobs and do whatever it takes to bring back the jobs they let go. They've got to give us somebody who will stand up for the American people.

We need to bring manufacturing back to the United States of America and both parties are ignoring tariffs as a way to level the playing field, raise money and bring jobs back home. Let's guess why. Oh that's right, tariff is a dirty word. Hum, maybe it's that our so called leaders (political leaders) are beholden to the same people who are exporting our jobs.

I guess we should keep letting Corp Boards, Wall Street, CEOs and Foreign Lobbyists promote sending US jobs to countries where they work for slave wages, no benefits, no OSHA safety standards or no real environment regulations. How's that been working for us?

[PourpaixPourpaix]

There was not a lot of difference between October, 1929 and October, 2008. It took 10 extremely painful years after the 1929 debacle before the problem was solved, including 3 years of ineffective Republican leadership. Republicans did nothing to stop the Great Depression in the preceding years in the presidency between 1921 and 1929.

I am thankful Obama won the 2008 election, because the GOP track record is to make things worse by continuing the same idiotic policies that got us in trouble in the first place. I am disappointed that Obama didn't end the pointless wars. Perhaps we would have fared better if he did. Still, electing another idiot who's first priority is to "fix" the economy by opening new wars from Iran to Syria to Libya while ripping the guts out of any social programs that actually do benefit the American people is sheer lunacy. I suppose voting for Mitt is a slam-dunk for the 1% who need more ignorant soldiers to further their agenda. The sad part is, that such philosophy only leads to revolution, with America, France, and Russia as examples. That ensures decades of misery instead of just a few years. Hope nobody out there is stupid enough to vote for another 1% idiot like Mitt.

[infantryman1968]

Romney finds new way to keep old 8 percent unemployment rate talking point
LOL!
Even Obama knows the 7.8 unelployment rate is bogus.

[treatise55]

Wow -- First he says 8% then 11% then 8% again? When will he make up his mind? Perhaps he doesn't know? Perhaps all he cares about is getting elected and therefore will come up with any BS to sensationalize his ever changing political argument.

[Dancing-in-the-Streets]

I know we have a lot of Vietnam Veterans here. This is certainly worth reading - I've just copied the beginning here...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-pressler/larry-pressler-obama_b_1948415.html

As a combat veteran of two tours in Vietnam with twenty-two years of service as a Republican member of the U.S. House and Senate, I endorse President Barack Obama for a second term as our Commander-in-Chief. Candidates publicly praise our service members, veterans and their families, but President Obama supports them in word and deed, anywhere and every time.

As a Vietnam vet, one of the reasons I support President Obama is because he has consistently shown he understands that our commitment to our servicemen and women may begin when they put on their uniform, but that it must never end........

[1988JAck]

The only thing you can say about Romney is that he will lie to get elected. he knows he has no foreign policy except to go to war again. Parents with Romney starting another war there won't be any volunteer army, your kids will be going, both boys and girls. Think if you really want the U.S. back in the mess we had with Bush.

[j_mcdonald-2009]

Your confusion corrected elsewhere.

Summary: See Table A-15 of the BLS report to address your concerns.

[nohater]

the economy will continue to grow slowly the world over. isn't that what economists the world over are saying these days? even if romney can create 12 million jobs over 4 years or each year while in office there are no guarantees that others won't lose their jobs during the same time period. romney still has not provided specific details on how he would make the USA economy flourish which is embedded in a global economy. so romeny, what's the plan stan?

[langtu7209]

Romney is a real commander for flip flop.

[sharkboy234]

Mitt Romney if elected he will cut PBS AND TAKE it away from us! Mitt romney you fired.

[hsinco-2009]

I bet bmallen 3 has no idea how much US debt China owns.