It was the number that launched thousands of tweets on Friday, as the Labor Department announced a stunning plunge in the jobless rate from 8.1 to 7.8 percent, the lowest since President Obama took office.
Mitt Romney supporter and GE CEO emeritus Jack Welch went viral upon hearing the report, tweeting that the numbers were cooked. “These Chicago guys will do anything,” wrote Welch. “Can’t debate, so change the numbers.”
Indeed, 8.6 million working-age adults who were counted in the report as employed were working only part time in September, according to the household survey, up a staggering 582,000 from August.
Of course, the accuracy of the household survey has been called into question for decades. Years ago, I traveled with a team of “survey-takers,” themselves part-time workers and full-time stay-at-home moms. They did their best, spending a few days a month canvassing their neighborhoods, asking who was employed and putting the results into a shoebox that was then delivered to the Labor Department office in Philadelphia’s Center City. Methods have improved somewhat since, but it remains a crude number.
Still, rather than focusing on flawed data or conspiracy theories, in the month remaining until Election Day Team Romney should launch a laser-like attack on the quality of the jobs Americans have been forced to take during the Obama era.
Mitt Romney should ask the president why under his watch US employers big and small have a growing “commitment problem,” unwilling or unable to hire full-time workers and endow them with the benefits and stability that working Americans have enjoyed for generations.
We intuitively know the answer: The looming burdens of ObamaCare and a rash of regulations make it a lot more palatable to hire workers only when you absolutely need them — even if you’re Uncle Sam.
In recent months, the US Postal Service has been in the market for temporary and part-time workers — as it plans mass layoffs of its permanent employees. The USPS website advertises what it calls these “non-career” positions. Pay: $11 an hour. No benefits.
Job One for Romney and Ryan is to point out that Americans deserve more than just a temporary job; they deserve a career. Their children and grandchildren do, too.