December 08, 2006

The GWB Tax Cuts Worked: Strong Growth in Jobs and Wages

From ABC News:

Dec. 8, 2006 — This morning's jobs report showed a month of strong growth: 132,000 new positions were added to the U.S. workforce in November, on top of a net upward revision for September and October of 42,000 positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The November figure tops the best guess of economists, which was around 92,000 new jobs for the month.

Employment even exceeds what economists consider to be "full employment:"

The nation's unemployment rate ticked up one-tenth of a percent to 4.5 percent. The move isn't significant, but it is important to keep in mind that this level of unemployment is historically low by American standards. Most economist believe we're at "full employment" when the economy has about 5 percent of workers without a permanent position.

What's this mean for the economy? The better than expected job creation in November supports the idea that the economy is on relatively solid footing right now, despite a recent slowdown. Could we be seeing the much ballyhooed "soft landing" that Federal Reserve Board governors have been dreaming about? Maybe.

Also revealed in today's report were wages that are increasing at a pace not seen in years, as unemployment is relatively low. That means companies have to raise wages to attract and retain workers to sustain growth. That might be helping bolster "consumer comfort" — measured weekly by ABC News — which has been near multi-year highs in the past few weeks.

See also these previous posts:

The GWB Tax Cuts Worked: Tax Receipts Show Biggest Gain in 25 Years

The GWB Tax Cuts Worked: Tax Cuts Power Growth in Consumer Wealth *and* Cut Deficit

The GWB Tax Cuts Worked: More Great News on the Economy

The Tax Cuts Worked-Economic Expansion: Year Five

The Bush Tax Cuts Have Resulted in Higher Tax Revenue

Lower Taxes Make the Economy Stronger

Lower Tax Rates Are Resulting In Higher Tax Revenue

A Myth Debunked: Bush Tax Cuts Did Not Favor the Rich

Tax Cuts Work: Government Forecasting Incorrectly Thought Tax Costs Would Reduce Tax Revenue

Berlin Stands Up for Free Speech: Opera House Reschedules Cancelled Performance of “Idomeneo”

Berlin stands up for free speech:

In September, Deutsche Oper head Kirsten Harms canceled Hans Neuenfels' interpretation of "Idomeneo" that had been scheduled for November following a vague security warning from police that the prop of Muhammad could incite Muslims.

After a storm of criticism over artistic freedom and an all-clear from police, the opera house rescheduled two performances for Dec. 18 and Dec. 29.

"What we can say is that, on the 18th, the work will be performed on stage with all the necessary props," Busche said.