Oval Office Chat Session: Obama and Boehner

Trying to Work it Out

Speaker Boehner called the President this morning and the President reiterated to the Speaker that the only viable option currently on the table is for the House of Representatives to pass the bipartisan Senate compromise that received the support of nearly 90 percent of the Senate.  The President told Speaker Boehner that he is committed to begin working immediately on a full-year agreement once the House passes the bipartisan Senate compromise that prevents a tax hike on 160 million Americans on January 1.

Photo source: The White House
Author: Pete Souza
Permission: The White House

'Bipartisan Action is Needed to Help the Private Sector and the Economy Grow'

Statement by CEA Chairman Austan Goolsbee on the the Employment Situation in July

Today, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee issued the following statement.

Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 154,000 in July and the unemployment rate ticked down to 9.1 percent. The economy has added 2.4 million private sector jobs over the past 17 months, despite a slowdown in economic growth from substantial headwinds in the first half of the year.

While the better than expected report is welcome news, the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high and faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Bipartisan action is needed to help the private sector and the economy grow – such as measures to extend both the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance, as well as passing the pending free trade agreements with re-employment assistance for displaced workers, the patent reform bill, and a bipartisan infrastructure bill to help put Americans back to work.

This week, we averted an economic catastrophe by avoiding a default and putting in place an important down payment on long term deficit reduction. We will continue to work with Congress to build on these efforts to achieve a broader balanced deficit reduction agreement that instills confidence and allows us to live within our means without shortchanging future growth.

In addition to the increases last month, payroll survey estimates of private sector job growth for May (now +99,000) and June (now +80,000) were revised up. Overall payroll employment rose by 117,000 in July. The growth was broad based. Sectors with employment increases included professional and business services (+34,000), health care (+31,300), retail trade (+25,900), manufacturing (+24,000), leisure and hospitality (+17,000), and construction (+8,000). Sectors with employment declines included government (-37,000) and financial activities (-4,000). Manufacturing has added 289,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, the best period of manufacturing job growth in over a decade. Meanwhile, state and local governments lost 39,000 jobs in July and have shed more than 400,000 jobs since the start of 2010.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

Weekly Address: A Bipartisan Approach to Strengthening the Economy

President Obama discusses the urgency of Democrats and Republicans coming together to take a balanced approach to cutting the deficit to strengthen our economy and secure our future.

President Obama Briefs the Press on Progress in Deficit Talks

President Obama tells reporters that some progress has been made in negotiations over raising the debt ceiling and hails a proposal from Congressional leaders that outlines a balanced approach to cut more than $4 trillion from the Federal deficit.