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July 7, 2004

Manufacturing workers continue to take a beating, despite the U.S. Labor Departments June report that shows a net increase of 112,000 jobs. U.S. wages are stagnant, and unemployment remained stuck at 5.6 percent, not counting workers who are discouraged and have ceased looking for employment.

A July 6 article in USA Today stated: "...manufacturers unexpectedly shed 11,000 jobs in June, as the workweek and wages declined." The newspaper also confirms that construction hiring was "flat" and that, while "overall employment has risen 1.2 percent, since [August, 2003], temp jobs are up 9 percent."

President Bush, speaking before business executives, applauded the June report as an indication that the economy is "steady and strong." He failed to mention that Wall Street economists predicted that 250,000 jobs would be created in June. The U.S. economy needs to add 346,000 jobs every month between now and January 2006 to close the job gap, a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston reveals. The job gap, according to "Understanding the Job-Loss Recovery," includes millions of jobs lost during President Bushs presidency, as well as the number of jobs needed to employ people who have dropped out of the workforce and jobs to keep up with workforce population growth.

Bush also neglected to mention that, as the New York Times reported: "...take-home pay, as a share of the economy is at its lowest level since the government starting keeping track in 1929."

No one expects the Presidents big money backers to lose much sleep over stagnant worker paychecks. But, with weakening retail and automobile sales, maybe a few will start to ponder the question: who will buy the goods and services that their companies sell?

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