Jobs And The Sequester

Jobs and the sequester. We’re looking at the new dip in job creation.

Bad jobs numbers for March on Friday.  Just 88,000 new jobs in a country with 11.7 million looking for work.  And a whole lot more who are just checking out of the job market – a loss to themselves and the country.

Now everyone’s asking why the “spring swoon” – again – in hiring.  The markets are up.  Housing’s on a tear.  What’s the lead weight on jobs?  Some say the sequester.  Others look wider.  It’s a problem we can’t afford – individually or as a country.

This hour, On Point:  American jobs.

Plus we’ll remember the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, who has died at 87.
-Tom Ashbrook

Lisa Rein, covers the federal workforce for the Washington Post. (@reinlwapo)

Heather Boushey, chief economist at the Center for American Progress. (@hboushey)

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics.

Elizabeth Rigby, deputy political editor for the Financial Times.

The Washington Post "Every U.S. Park Police officer will be off the job for 14 days — but the national parks they patrol will be staffed. The Department of Housing and Urban Development will shut down for seven days starting in May, after concluding that staggering furloughs for 9,000 employees would create too much paperwork."

ABC News "The unemployment rate fell to 7.6 percent in March but just 88,000 jobs were added, raising fears that the economy is beginning to cool after several strong months. Ahead of Friday's jobs report, economists braced themselves for grim numbers. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that the number of jobless Americans filing unemployment claims increased for the third consecutive time last week."

CBS News "After the Labor Department on Friday released a disappointing jobs report for the month of March, the White House, House Speaker John Boehner and other politicians cited the sequestration for the slow economic growth — and sparked Democrats and Republicans to revive the debate over whom to blame for the spending cuts."