February 01, 2008
Everyone Except Exxon Mobil Frowning Today
Having lost one of his main talking points on the economy -- that the U.S. was enjoying an unprecedented, 52-month run in job growth -- President Bush sought to assure Americans today that the U.S. economy would get through the current "rough patch."
"During this downcycle, we want to help individual Americans," Bush said, speaking from Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City. "There is concern whether consumers will lose confidence in our economy. One way to address that issue is to have a temporary, robust tax rebate," he continued, referring to the checks that are going out to millions of households this summer.
Today's Labor Department report on January job growth was not the one everyone was expecting. Non-farm payrolls dropped 17,000 jobs, the first time the U.S. has lost jobs since 2003.
Capping a week of other negative indicators on the economy, "the disappointing report could tilt economists' reading of the U.S. labor market towards the belief that it is weakening significantly," the Financial Times reports.
But not everyone is shaking their head with worry today. Exxon Mobil reported $40.6 billion in net income, a historical best for the energy giant. The record profits are a result of the sharp spike in oil prices worldwide. (Rival Chevron also beat analysts' estimates.)
Of course, pricey oil has put a big dent in many Americans' wallets. In his remarks at Hallmark's HQ, Bush tried to remind anxious Americans that help was on the way, in the form of a roughly $150 billion economic stimulus package and the HOPE Now initiative targeting homeowners at risk of foreclosure.
Hailing the stimulus bill passed by the House on Tuesday as "a good package," Bush said, "The sooner we can get money into our consumers' hands, the more likely it is the economy will recover from this uncertainty. The fundamentals are strong. We're just in a rough patch, as witnessed by the unemployment numbers today. We will get through it."
Analysts had forecast job growth of around 40,000 to 60,000 this month, and ADP Employer Services pinned that figure at 130,000 jobs. Why the disparity? "Regional purchasing manager surveys pointed to weakness," conflicting with the ADP report, according to WSJ's Real Time Economics blog. Also of note: "The Labor Department revised up their estimate of December job creation by 64,000 jobs to 82,000 and revised down their November estimate by almost half, to just 60,000 jobs created that month." So, the overall employment picture remains somewhat muddled.
Still, today's jobs report is raining on investors' parade. They would otherwise be rallying around Microsoft's bold play for Yahoo -- a long-awaited direct challenge to Google.
Posted at 12:57 PM
Posted to:
Bush Administration, Congress, Economy, President Bush, Taxes
Share via
