“It’s Terrible News”

The Weakest Job Growth In A Year Is Yet Another Unwelcome Sign That Obamanomics Has Failed America

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THE ECONOMY SPUTTERED IN MAY AS A DISSAPOINTING 69,000 JOBS WERE ADDED TO THE ECONOMY AND THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASED TO 8.2 PERCENT

The Hill :“The Economy Added Only 69,000 Jobs In May, A Result Much Worse Than Expected That Will Heighten Fears The Economy Is Sliding Back.” (Vicki Needham and Ian Swanson, “Bleak Labor Report Finds Economy Added 69,000 Jobs In May,” The Hill’s “On The Money,” 6/1/12)

• The Associated Press : “The Dismal Jobs Figures Could Fan Fears That The Economy Is Sputtering.” (Christopher Rugaber, “U.S. Employers Added 69,000 Jobs In May As The Unemployment Rate Rose To 8.2 Percent,” The Associated Press, 6/1/12)

ABC News: “The Nation’s Jobs Picture Dimmed In May.” “The nation’s jobs picture dimmed in May as employers added just 69,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2 percent, a continuation of a long, slow employment recovery that began 33 months ago.” (Susanna Kim, “May Unemployment Rises To 8.2 Pct,” ABC News, 6/1/12)

• ABC News: “Economists Generally Agree That A Healthy Economy Must Create At Least 200,000 Jobs A Month And The Unemployment Rate Needs To Fall To 6 Percent Or Below.” “Economists generally agree that a healthy economy must create at least 200,000 jobs a month and the unemployment rate needs to fall to 6 percent or below — something the US hasn’t seen since before the financial meltdown of 2007-2008.” (Susanna Kim, “May Unemployment Rises To 8.2 Pct,” ABC News, 6/1/12)

The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Job Growth Slowed Sharply In May, The Latest Indication That The Economy Has Lost Momentum.” (Jeffrey Sparshott and Andrew Ackerman, “Job Growth Slows,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/1/12)

• Former Obama Council Of Economic Adviser Chairman Austan Goolsbee: “The Economy Has Slowed Down.” GOOLSBEE: “Exactly, this is not a good time to be right, but what we got is the economy has slowed down. You saw that in the numbers, and if the economy’s growing slower than productivity, nobody has to hire anybody to grow that fast.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 6/1/12)

WSJ: “The Pace Of Job Creation Remains Well Below Figures At The Start Of The Year.” “The unemployment rate has fallen sharply since August, when it was 9.1%. But even though companies are hiring, the pace of job creation remains well below figures at the start of the year—the economy added an average of 226,000 jobs a month in the first quarter.” (Jeffrey Sparshott and Andrew Ackerman, “Job Growth Slows,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/1/12)

WSJ: “Compounding An Already Weak Report, March And April Payroll Gains Were Revised Down.” “Compounding an already weak report, March and April payroll gains were revised down. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 77,000 in April, compared with the previously reported 115,000, and March payrolls grew by 143,000 versus a previously reported 154,000.” (Jeffrey Sparshott and Andrew Ackerman, “Job Growth Slows,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/1/12)

Bloomberg: “American Employers In May Added The Smallest Number Of Workers In A Year.” “American employers in May added the smallest number of workers in a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly increased as job-seekers re-entered the workforce, further evidence that the labor-market recovery is stalling.” (Timothy R. Homan, “Employment In U.S. Increased 69,000 In May,” Bloomberg, 6/1/12)

• Bloomberg: “Payrolls Climbed By 69,000 Last Month, Less Than The Most- Pessimistic Forecast In A Bloomberg News Survey.” “Payrolls climbed by 69,000 last month, less than the most- pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, after a revised 77,000 gain in April that was smaller than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate called for a 150,000 May advance. The jobless rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent, while hours worked declined.” (Timothy R. Homan, “Employment In U.S. Increased 69,000 In May,” Bloomberg, 6/1/12)

Reuters: “Job Growth In May Was The Weakest In A Year.” “Job growth in May was the weakest in a year and employers added far fewer jobs in the prior two months than previously reported, suggesting the economic recovery was faltering. Employers created a paltry 69,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the fewest since May last year. Economists polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm payrolls to increase 150,000.” (Lucia Mutikani, “Job Growth Falters In May,” Reuters, 6/1/12)

The New York Times: “A Dismal Showing.” “The United States economy gained a net 69,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said Friday, a dismal showing that reflected mounting fears of a global slowdown. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in April.” (Shaila Dewan, “U.S. Added 69,000 Jobs In May, Jobless Rate At 8.2%,”The New York Times, 6/1/12)

CNBC’S Brian Shactman: “ Our Own Newsroom Was Just Shocked.” MSNBC’S JOE SCARBOROUGH: “Richard, we were looking at the number before we came back on the air and collective groans around the set.” CNBC’S BRIAN SHACTMAN: “Our own newsroom was just shocked.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/1/12)

CNN’s Alison Kosik : “This Was A Huge Miss For This Jobs Report. There’s No Other Way To Say It. One Analyst Calls It Pathetic.” KOSIK: “Buckle up for it today. It’s gonna be an ugly one today. This was a huge miss for this jobs report. There’s no other way to say it. One analyst calls it pathetic. Another analyst tells me, you know what? The U.S. just isn’t slowing down at this point. It’s pulling up the emergency brake.” (CNN’s “Newsroom,” 6/1/12)

The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin: “Horrible Number. 69K New Jobs, 150K Expected.”(Neil Irwin, Twitter Feed, 6/1/12)

MSNBC’S Richard Wolffe: “The World Economy Was Looking To America For Growth Here At This Point.” WOLFFE: “Look, bad for the politics and bad for the people who can’t get work. That’s what these numbers represent. You know, the markets are, obviously, going to tank. But, you know, the world economy was looking to America for growth here at this point.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/1/12)

CNBC’s Brian Shactman: “Any Way You Slice It, It Looks Like Last Summer All Over Again Where We Slowed Down.” SCHACTMAN:“Any way you slice it, it looks like last summer all over again where we slowed down. Whether we’ve got Greece, we’ve got Spain, we’ve got Italy. We’ve got here. We have China slow down overnight. Even Mark Zandi, guys, and you know Mark well, even he couldn’t put a spin on it. He said this is just a bad, bad number.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 6/1/12)

THE WHITE HOUSE HAS “NOWHERE TO HIDE” FROM THIS “TERRIBLE” JOBS REPORT

Moody’s Mark Zandi: “There’s Nowhere To Hide On This One.” ZANDI: “Yeah. Yeah. I’m very disappointed, yeah. There’s nothing. There’s nowhere to hide on this one.” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 6/1/12)

• Zandi: “ There’s Nothing Very Redeeming About This Report. It’s Pretty Ugly All The Way Around.” ZANDI:“Yeah, I know, Chuck, there’s nothing very redeeming about this report. It’s pretty ugly all the way around. The weak job numbers, the revisions, the unemployment rate. It was pretty, pretty weak.” (MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” 6/1/12)

The Hill :“The Report Underperformed Expectations And Could Represent A Critical Turning Point In The Presidential Race Between Republican Mitt Romney And President Obama.” (Vicki Needham and Ian Swanson, “Bleak Labor Report Finds Economy Added 69,000 Jobs In May,” The Hill’s “On The Money,” 6/1/12)

Bloomberg: “It Makes It Difficult For President Barack Obama, Campaigning For Re-Election, To Press His Case That Things Are Getting Better.” “It makes it difficult for President Barack Obama, campaigning for re-election, to press his case that things are getting better. It makes it easier for Mitt Romney, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, to argue that Obama isn’t up to the job.” (Mark Silva, “Jobs Report: Bad News For Obama,” Bloomberg, 6/1/12)

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd: “Nowhere To Hide On This One. A Political Stomach Punch To The White House This Morning.” TODD: “Trending down. May job’s numbers grew just 69,000. Unemployment rate ticking up to 8.2%. Nowhere to hide on this one. A political stomach punch to the White House this morning.” (MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” 6/1/12)

• Fox News’ Chris Wallace: “It’s Terrible News.” WALLACE: “Well, and you’ve got to talk both about the economy, the impact on real Americans, as well as the politics of it. And it’s terrible news.” (Fox News’ “Fox And Friends,” 6/1/12)

Fox News’ Stuart Varney: “This Is Very Bad News For The Economy. It’s Very Bad News Politically For President Obama.” (Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” 6/1/12)

The Washington Post’s Neil Irwin: “That Sound Of Dejected Slumping In Chairs You Hear? Coming From The West Wing.” (Neil Irwin, Twitter Feed, 6/1/12)