Facing Our Fiscal Challenges

Chad Stone Statement on January Employment Report

"Today’s jobs report is encouraging, but we should judge it against the overall sluggishness of the economic recovery and a persistently large jobs deficit that remains after 23 straight months of private-sector job creation.  Payroll employment is still 5.6 million jobs short of where it was at the start of the Great Recession in December 2007, there are four jobless workers for every job opening, and long-term unemployment remains at an historic high level (see chart).  Nothing in today’s report should deter Congress from moving quickly to enact payroll tax cut/unemployment insurance (UI) legislation that would extend the provision of temporary federal emergency UI compensation through the end of the year — without cutting benefits or imposing new barriers to receiving benefits."  Read more

Related:

• Off the Charts Blog: Today’s Jobs Report in Pictures
• Chartbook: The Legacy of the Great Recession
• Video: Jared Bernstein Discusses the January Employment Report with Chad Stone

Proposed Budget Process Changes Would Mark Step Backward

Congress is considering this week a series of changes to the congressional budget process that proponents say will promote fiscal responsibility. CBPP has produced analyses of four of the bills that were passed out of committee last week, explaining why they would mark a step backward for the budget process:

• House Bill Would Artificially Inflate Cost of Federal Credit Programs
• “Baseline Reform Act” is a Step in the Wrong Direction
• Requiring Joint Budget Resolution Could Lead to Gridlock on Appropriations and Shift Power to the Executive Branch
• Biennial Budgeting: Do the Drawbacks Outweigh the Advantages?
• Blog Post: Reischauer "Strongly Opposes" House Bill to Inflate Cost of Federal Credit Programs

More: Recession and Recovery Analyses