NYT: In Swing States, Growth of Jobs Has Faltered

[DeepModem Mom]

In Swing States, Growth of Jobs Has Faltered
By EDUARDO PORTER

Published: October 23, 2004


As job growth has picked up in many areas of the country, employment has continued to falter in some crucial battleground states, the government reported yesterday.

In the last state-level employment report to be issued before the election on Nov. 2, the Labor Department found that the job market in September remained relatively weak in the politically divided states along the Great Lakes, and it even took a tumble in Florida, which was hit hard this summer by several hurricanes....

***

"What we're seeing here is a stagnation; we are not seeing an uptick at all," said Sharon Parks, vice president for policy at the Michigan League of Human Services in Lansing, an advocacy organization for low-income people. Median household income in the state has fallen 3 percent since 2000, she said....

***

But for all the back-and-forth over jobs, the economy may matter less in this election than in the past. "The war and terrorism,'' Ms. Parks, the Michigan advocate for the poor, said, "are eclipsing everything else."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/business/23econ.html?oref=login

[Skittles]

1. I don't think the war and terrorism are "eclipsing everything else"

not at all

[jdots]

2. You are right Skittles

There is so much work to done,that has been put aside by this administraion.It seems like 4 years of a man trying to get the approval of no one but his mentors.

[Skittles]

4. the dying soldiers and innocents in Iraq hurt a lot

but we cannot help but be concerned about the economy too, the flu vaccine, the environment, lots of other things. They simply are not "eclipsed".

[Sean Reynolds]

3. But the economy is strong!

Well to quote my comrade Vlad Lenin: A lie told often enough becomes the truth.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Adding LAT: Increase in Jobs Seen in Many Swing States (!)

THE RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE
Increase in Jobs Seen in Many Swing States
Most competitive states were among 33 to post gains in September. Overall, the picture gives neither presidential candidate an edge.

By Warren Vieth, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — The number of payroll jobs increased in 33 states last month, including most of the presidential campaign battlegrounds, the Labor Department said Friday in its last employment scorecard before the Nov. 2 election.

Yet the picture in the swing states was not altogether sunny. Hurricane-whipped Florida posted a loss of 9,500 payroll positions in September, and Midwestern neighbors Wisconsin and Minnesota shed 7,000 and 2,200 jobs, respectively.

The unemployment rate, which is measured by a different survey from the payroll job count, improved in 23 states last month and worsened in 22. Virtually all the swing states registered improvements or no change for the month.

The state-by-state tallies reflected the national pattern of gradual gains in most job markets, but not the kind of robust growth President Bush had hoped for in the home stretch of his reelection campaign against Democratic nominee Sen. John F. Kerry....

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-jobs23oct23,1,2060423.story?coll=la-home-politics