WASHINGTON—After of a wild week in the stock market, President Barack Obama over the weekend spoke of jobs and economic development.
In his weekly address, Obama described policies he would pursue in order to get the country’s economy back on the path to prosperity, including patent reform and extending the payroll tax holiday.
“The payroll tax cut that put $1,000 back in the average family’s pocket this year? Let’s extend it. Construction workers who’ve been jobless since the housing boom went bust? Let’s put them back to work rebuilding America. Let’s cut red tape in the patent process so entrepreneurs can get good ideas to market more quickly. Let’s finish trade deals so we can sell more American-made goods around the world,” said Obama, referring to the three free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea that are currently on the table.
The president also condemned the partisan gridlock that characterized much of the congressional debate over the raising of the debt ceiling, stating that such partisanship will have no place in the debate about moving the American economy forward.
“We can no longer let partisan brinksmanship get in our way—the idea that making it through the next election is more important than making things right,” said the president. “That’s what’s holding us back—the fact that some in Congress would rather see their opponents lose than see America win.”
On Friday, the administration also released “Jobs and Economic Security for Rural America,” a report by the White House Rural Council.
Obama created the group with an executive order in June, to promote economic development in the nation’s rural communities. The report highlighted the goals of the council and some of the successes the administration claims in spurring economic growth in rural areas.
“The council is focused on increasing rural access to capital, spurring agricultural innovation, expanding digital and physical infrastructure in rural areas, and creating economic opportunities through conservation and outdoor recreation,” according to a statement by the White House.
The most recent data from the government paints a mixed picture of the nation’s economic situation. The latest unemployment numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the economy added 117,000 jobs in the month of July—a little higher than economists originally expected, given the political turmoil over the debt ceiling, yet still short of the numbers needed to keep up with population growth and new workers being added to the labor force each month.
The unemployment rate dipped slightly to 9.1 percent in July, down from 9.2 percent in June.
However, during the second fiscal quarter of 2011, the private nonfarm sector had 1,624 layoffs that affected about 260,000 workers, indicating that the economy is still struggling.
Meanwhile, the stock market endured a week of gyrations during which the major indices went through a series of drops and rallies after Standard and Poor’s rating agency downgraded the nation’s credit rating from AAA to AA+.
