The 'stimulus' for unemployment: How Washington goosed joblessness
Why did the unemployment rate rise so rapidly -- from 7.2 per cent in January to 10.2 percent in October? It was clearly the administration's "stimulus" bill -- which in February provided $40 billion to greatly extend jobless benefits at no cost to the states. As Larry Summers, the president's top assistant for economic policy, noted in July, "the unemployment rate over the recession has risen about 1 to 1.5 percentage points more than would normally be attributable to the contraction in GDP." And the rate has moved nearly a percentage point higher since then, even though GDP increased. Countries...
Original Article: Forum: News/Activism
Tags: Contraction, Economic Policy, Gdp, Jobless Benefits, Joblessness, Larry Summers, Percentage Point, Percentage Points, Recession, Stimulus, Unemployment Rate, Unemployment Washington, X22