jobs | The Obama Diary

Posts Tagged ‘jobs

May

Rise and Shine

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and West Wing Week
Tags: gun, Ireland, jobs, Mexico, Michelle, nra, Obama, President, report, videos, Violence, week, west, wing

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All times Eastern:

10:15 AM: The President delivers remarks at the Anthropology Museum, Mexico City (White House live)

10:30: VP Biden and Sec of State Kerry deliver remarks at the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Memorial Plaque Ceremony at the State Department (White House live)

12:25: President Obama meets with Mexican entrepreneurs

1:25: Departs Mexico City

4:0: Arrives San Jose, Costa Rica

4:35: Meets and greets with United States Embassy personnel

5:40: The President and President Chinchilla hold a bilateral meeting

6:30: The President and President Chinchilla hold a cultural event with Costa Rican youth

7:15: Press conference

7:30: VP Biden speaks at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s 2013 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner (C-Span)

7:35: President Obama participates in a photo with Central American Integration System leaders

9:0: Central American Integration System leaders meet for a working dinner

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Bloomberg: Employment picked up more than forecast in April and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined to a four-year low of 7.5 percent, showing the early stages of government budget cuts failed to destabilize the U.S. labor market.

Payrolls expanded by 165,000 workers last month following a revised 138,000 increase in March that was larger than first estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 90 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected a 140,000 gain. Revisions to the prior two months’ reports added a total of 114,000 jobs to the employment count in February and March.

More here

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A snapshot of U.S. job creation in 2013: 165K jobs added in April; 138K in March; 332K in Feb.; 148K in Jan. on.mktw.net/16yqBcq

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) May 3, 2013

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Steve Benen: After the discouraging jobs report a month ago, many were eager to see the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning to see whether the jobs market would bounce back or continue to deteriorate.

For now, it looks like the former. The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in April, more than expected, and overall unemployment rate dropped to 7.5%, its lowest point in four-and-a-half years. As is usually the case, there was a gap between the two major sectors – America’s private sector added 176,000 jobs last month, while spending cuts caused the public sector lose 11,000 jobs.

…. February was revised up from 268,000 jobs to 332,000, making it the single best month for job creation since 2005 (excluding temporary Census hiring). March was also revised up, from 88,000 to 138,000. In other words, as of this morning’s report, the previous two months added an additional 114,000 jobs we didn’t previously know about.

More here

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QUICK. Find bad news. RT @jimpethokoukis: Breaking: US April Jobs Report: 165,000 net new payrolls; 7.5% U-3 unemployment rate

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) May 3, 2013

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Good thing Detroit did not go bankrupt. American Auto Industry Has Best Performance in 20 Years bloom.bg/1047AX0 via @bloombergnews

— David Plouffe (@davidplouffe) May 2, 2013

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May

Rise and Shine

By utaustinliberal 130 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos and Articles
Tags: African, american, Barack, Biden, columbia, Congress, jill, jobs, journalism, Michelle, military, Obama, obamacare, President, review, vote

White-House-Correspondents-Association-WHCA-Dinner-Event-in-DC

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Columbia Journalism Review: In Hollywood and the accounts of many of the nation’s leading journalists, events in Washington revolve around the president, who is thought to have virtually unlimited powers to cajole, charm, threaten, or bribe legislators into enacting his agenda. Within this framework, the success or failure of the president’s legislative agenda is typically attributed to his tactics, not contextual factors like party support in Congress.

In reality, the idea that the President can force an uncooperative Congress to do his bidding has been falsified over and over again—not just during President Obama’s administration on issues like gun control, but during previous presidencies. Even Lyndon Baines Johnson, the prototypical presidential wheeler-dealer, became far less persuasive when the national political climate changed after the 1966 midterm elections (one aide commented that by the end LBJ “couldn’t get Mother’s Day through” Congress). And yet journalists and commentators still try to defend their misguided notions of presidential power, suggesting instead that, for instance, Obama is being held back by a lack of personal charm or a failure to twist enough arms in Congress.

More here

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Sen. Boxer To Hold Hearing On West, Texas Chemical Explosion livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/sen-boxe… via @igorbobic
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TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) April 30, 2013

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KRDO (Colorado Springs, CO): The first lady and Jill Biden pushed companies to continue hiring veterans and their spouses. According to the Associated Press, 1 million members of the military are expected to join the civilian workforce over the next five years. Michelle Obama said companies have hired or trained 290,000 veterans in less than two years. However, she said, there is still work to be done. Statistics show the unemployment rate among veterans is lower than non-veterans.

Jill Biden said there are initiatives in Washington working to help military spouses as well called Military Spouse Employment Partnership. ”This effort has helped spouses build strong resumes, has sponsored hiring fairs and created strong resume programs. Since its launch, more than 160 Fortune 500 employers have signed on to the partnership,” said Biden. “More than 43,000 military spouses have been hired.”

Pikes Peak Workforce Center is hosting a job fair geared toward veterans May 15-17 at Pikes Peak Community College. Amthor said 100 local and national companies have already signed on. Here is a link for more information on the job fair: http://mvee.org/

More here

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Federal Reserve expected to maintain its efforts to strengthen a still-subpar economy: apne.ws/15YHcpA - VW
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The Associated Press (@AP) May 01, 2013

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Kevin Drum: President Obama said today that he believes there are some Republicans in Congress who’d like to compromise with him to enact “common sense” solutions to America’s problems. I’m sympathetic, because I agree. I don’t think that Republicans have declined to make a budget deal because Obama didn’t schmooze them enough, or because they didn’t understand what he was offering, or because Democrats haven’t framed their compromise proposals quite right. Republicans have declined to make a deal because they don’t like any of the deals Obama is willing to make. Full stop. Unfortunately, I think Ed falls into the same trap when he suggests that Obama’s dinners with senators have gone quite far enough, thankyouverymuch.

All of which gets us to the guts of the problem: most likely, nothing is going to work. But if you’re the president, you can’t say that. You can’t even act like it. You have to go out day after day after day insisting that progress is possible and deals can be made. This gets you lots of flak from fellow lefties who think it displays terminal naiveté, but what choice do you have? Obama pretty obviously understands everything that his lefty critics understand—he’s not an idiot, and this is hardly rocket science, after all—but he also understands one other thing: he can’t admit it. I imagine it’s frustrating as hell. But like it or not, presidents have to keep their chin up in public and keep trying to make things happen, even if they know perfectly well that success is unlikely. Welcome to hell.

More here

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Mar

Rise and Shine

By Chipsticks 369 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos, Articles and Michelle Obama
Tags: act, Barack, court, dow, jobs, jones, nra, Obama, ofa, President, rights, supreme, toons, voting

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Today:

The President has no scheduled public appearances

12:0: Jay Carney briefs the press

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USA Today: Rain, snow, and heavy winds have forced a change in President Obama’s schedule for Wednesday: No Alabama football. The Crimson Tide, prepared to celebrate their third national championship in four years with another White House ceremony, canceled their flight from Tuscaloosa on Tuesday because of bad weather. Instead, Obama will have a string of private meetings while riding out the storm today.

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Reuters: Private employers added 198,000 jobs in February, the biggest increase in a year and another sign of improvement in the labor market, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 170,000 jobs. January’s private payrolls were revised up to an increase of 215,000 from the previously reported 192,000.

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TPM: President Obama will hold a signing ceremony Thursday for the Violence Against Women Act, which recently passed Congress. He and Vice President Joe Biden, the original author of VAWA in 1994, will make remarks.

They’ll be joined, according to the White House, “by women’s organizations, law enforcement officials, tribal leaders, survivors, advocates and members of Congress.”

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Jonathan Chait: Michael J. Boskin – former George W. Bush economic adviser, Hoover Institute fellow, and staunch advocate of conservative anti-tax doctrine – appears today, as is his wont, in The Wall Street Journal op-ed pages to warn that the Democratic president’s economic policies will lead us to misery.

If you are an investor, Boskin’s doomsaying is a sure sign of a coming bull market. Four years ago, Boskin penned a Journal op-ed whose thesis was captured in the headline, “Obama’s Radicalism Is Killing The Dow.” That was the signal for the Dow to go on a tear, doubling over the next four years…..

One might suppose that Boskin has simply suffered a single unfortunate coincidence. In fact, his career is a mighty testament to the power of enduring, invincible wrongness…..

Full post here

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NYT: With Republican leaders in Congress forswearing budget negotiations over new revenues, President Obama has begun reaching around them to Republican lawmakers with a history of willingness to cut bipartisan deals.

Mr. Obama has invited about a dozen Republican senators out to dinner on Wednesday night, after speaking with several of them by phone in recent days, according to people familiar with the invitation. And next week, according to those people and others who did not want to be identified, he will make a rare foray to Capitol Hill to meet separately with the Republican and Democratic caucuses in both the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House.

More here

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Washington Post: Some of the gun lobby’s strongest allies are breaking with the National Rifle Association to support proposals that would expand background checks for private firearm sales.

In behind-the-scenes talks with congressional staff members and others, gunmakers, dealers and other Second Amendment advocates have offered support for more instant criminal background checks, buoying the hopes of gun-control supporters, including President Obama, who has put a top priority on extending criminal checks to private sales.

More here

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USA Today: President Obama’s trip to Israel this month is just about set except for one big thing: A new Israeli government. Israel’s Channel 10 is reporting that Obama’s trip may be pushed back if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to form a new coalition government by March 16.

More here

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See here for full infographic – and more here

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TPM: A number of Republican senators Tuesday either didn’t know or wouldn’t say if they consider the Voting Rights Act to be constitutional, even though many of them voted to reauthorize it in 2006 and the Supreme Court is currently considering whether to invalidate a key section of it.

As they entered and exited weekly party luncheons Tuesday afternoon …. Every one of them dodged the questions, some more artfully than others.

“Uh,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, before a long, awkward pause, “I haven’t even thought about it.” He laughed and said, “I’ll leave that to the courts….”

More here

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Make sure you add the Pragmatic Pundit to your daily reading – it’s the blog of our TOD friend FayPax. It’s in the blogroll on the right if you ever need to find the link

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Missed this yesterday:

The First Lady’s interview on Univision’s Primer Impacto airs today – check your listings

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MoooOOooooOOorning!

Feb

Rise and Shine

By Chipsticks 174 Comments

Categories: All Photos, All Videos, Articles and Michelle Obama
Tags: Barack, beautiful, day, jobs, michael, Michelle, Obama, photos, President, tomasky, toons, valentines, videos, You're

Hey, what other photo would I use on this date?!

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Today:

9:35: President Obama departs the White House

11:30: Arrives in Decatur, Ga.

12:10: Visits a pre-kindergarten classroom at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center

1:20: Delivers remarks at Decatur Community Recreation Center

2:40: Departs Decatur

4:25: Arrives at the White House

4:50: Participates in a “Fireside Hangout” with Google+ to discuss his State of the Union Address

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More here: Steve Benen

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Love this:

Michael Tomasky: …. A lot of commentators are amusing themselves by pointing out that very few of Obama’s long list of State of the Union goals are likely to make it into law while he’s in office. I say that seeing as how he’s a pretty smart man, he knows this. But he’s doing it anyway. Because he’s thinking more about history than his story, and because he understands that if he wants to be a transformational president, the change he initiates is going to have to continue well past his time – and yes, the great presidents have all thought this way.

…. Obama knows that fighting climate change and getting universal pre-school and doing something to help the working poor are big jobs, long jobs. They’re certainly not going to happen under the current legislative configuration, and they’re probably not going to happen while he’s in office ….. his play is to inch us toward those goals however he can …. He might not be the guy who’s there to sign the bill. But he’s okay with that, too.

…. If three or four of these things pass in the next four years, great, all the better. But if they pass in the eight years after he’s done, everyone will know who put them in motion. And I have little doubt Obama will be happy to share the credit with the then-sitting president, whoever she may be.

Full post here

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President Obama’s post-SOTU OFA call – thanks a million Pamela!

The sound is pretty low, so turn it up!

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NYT: President Obama’s call in his State of the Union address to “make high-quality preschool available to every single child in America” rallied advocates across the country who have long argued that inequity in education begins at a very young age.

In details that emerged early Thursday, the administration proposed that the federal government work with states to provide preschool for every 4-year-old from low- and moderate-income families. The president’s plan also calls for expanding Early Head Start, the federal program designed to prepare children from low-income families for school, to broaden quality childcare for infants and toddlers.

More here

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