The U.S. economy will start showing more employment growth next quarter and gain an average of 95,000 jobs a month this year, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers said in an annual report to the president.
The report released in Washington today showed White House economists predicting a monthly rise of 190,000 jobs on average next year and 251,000 in 2012. The report kept the forecast in President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget request released Feb. 1 for the unemployment rate to average 10 percent this year and gross domestic product to expand 3 percent when measured fourth quarter to fourth quarter.
“There are strong signs that the American economy is starting to recover” and the labor market “appears to be healing,” the report said.
Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chairman Christina Romer said in an interview today that a tax credit for small businesses that hire workers might help lower the jobless rate. The measure is included in the administration’s 2011 budget proposal.
“We have done a lot of analysis on this and think it could have a pretty big jobs impact,” she said. “An incentive for hiring could be what gets firms over the hump.”
On a conference call with reporters yesterday, Romer said the U.S. needs to lay the foundation for more sustainable economic growth and move away from “bubble and bust” cycles.
‘Suffering’
“The suffering is enormous, so we absolutely need to get that unemployment rate down,” Romer said.
Thank goodness for a few snow days as it afforded Christina and her crack staff to compile the 462 page report. Nice job Aunt Bee!
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