Unemployment increases from 9.7% to 9.9% and Obama's Minion Media wants you to think this is good !!! ?

When it is all said and done, Obama and his Minion Media really cannot make a failing jobs policy look the opposite. Check out this AP story. Note that its focus is centered around the assignment of making the reader believe things are actually improving. 231,000 private sector jobs were added to the economy last month. Most of these jobs were in the leisure and service industries. That, indeed, is good news in spite of the fact that it pales in the shadow of the 4 million private sector jobs lost since Obama crammed his Stimulus down our throats and the 8 million lost since the recession was declared a "recession."

Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer, On Friday May 7, 2010, 8:40 am

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More confident employers stepped up job creation in April, expanding payrolls by 290,000, the most in four years. The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent as people streamed back into . the market looking for work.

The hiring of 66,000 temporary government workers to conduct the census helped overall payroll growth last month. However, private employers -- the backbone of the economy -- boosted jobs, too. They added a surprisingly strong 231,000 positions last month, also the most since March 2006, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate rose from 9.7 percent in March to 9.9 percent in April, mainly because 805,000 jobseekers -- perhaps feeling better about their prospects -- resumed their searches for work.

Many economists have predicted the unemployment rate would rise as people come back into the labor force. The jobless rate hit 10.1 percent in October, a 26-year high.

Job gains in April were widespread. Manufacturers, construction companies, retailers, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government all showed gains. Among the weak spots: transportation and warehousing, and information companies, which all all cut jobs last month. Also encouraging: The employment picture in both March and April turned out to be stronger than previously thought. Payrolls grew by 230,000 in March, better than the 162,000 first reported. And, 39,000 jobs were actually added in February, an improvement from the previous estimate of 14,000 losses. Friday's report sketched out a picture of a healing jobs market and an economy picking up momentum in the early spring. The improvements, however, were taking place before the stock market plunged this week on concerns that the European debt crisis could spread. There are fears the crisis could make companies more cautious about hiring in the future, economists warned.

Understand that 47% of Americans are concerned about "jobs" versus 5% concerned with "immigration reform" according to FoxNews. While the AP claims that a rise in unemployment was expected, the fact is that most thought the new monthly report would remain at 9.7% or decline a bit -- after all, we do have a healthy increase in job positions.

Keep in mind that AP has it wrong. It suggests that the substantial increase in "unemployment" is due to the fact that more unemployed have decided to start looking for work, again. AP says "The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent as people streamed back into the market looking for work." Kind of silly, right?!! Or did you forget that the 9.9% number IS NOT a measure of people who have decided to start looking for work but the measure of folks who recently lost their jobs and have applied for FIRST TIME unemployment benefits??!! One would think that an "economics writer" would know this. But, of course, she does know. Her real job, however, was not to report the facts. Rather, someone has told her to make the report sound like good news. So, she pretends that the increase from 9.7% to 9.9% means people are encouraged and beginning to look for work instead of the truth which is this: the increase represents folks who just "got canned" from their present jobs. They were not looking for work; they just got fired from work !!! Incredible.

What is not even hinted at is the actual number of Americans who are either unemployed (whether drawing benefits or not) and underemployed. At last report, that stood at 20.3% for a total of more than 30 million Americans. In fact, THAT number has increased three months running. We await the most current monthly report.

There is no escaping the fact that Obama's jobs strategy is simply to hope that the lust for profits will kick in and those filthy American profit takers will begin to hire, again. Obama talks about "green jobs" but ignores the fact that substantial numbers of green jobs are 10 to 15 years in the future. He increases the size of government, taking taxpayer money out of the private sector, preventing the increase of jobs. Do not forget that he told the Nation that his jobs agenda would be "95% private sector." Try 10% including the good news, today, and stop pretending that he actually has a plan for private sector jobs.

Further, he does not see that his "energy policy" is proving to be little more than a force AGAINST increased private sector jobs, raising the energy costs for production and transportation of goods and services. Has he forgotten what happened to this economy in July of 2008 when the cost per barrel of crude hit $146 ? Understand that all of America's production, at some point, winds up on a truck. When gas/diesel hit $4.50 a gallon back in '08, the cost of fueling an 18 wheeler rose to $1,900 ! Transportation costs at that level helped to bring our economy to its knees. Obama apparently does not understand that radically increased fuel prices will spell the end of any recovery that is under way. He knows full well that rising fuel costs will increase the demand for green transportation. In his unqualified mind, he thinks this is good, forgetting, of course, that those same costs will bring his Administration down and out.

This summer is promising to be a disaster as relates to fuel costs -- just in time for the midterm elections. Midknight Review predicted this circumstance more than a year ago.