Hiring Up (or not) and Unemployment Down (sort of)

This one page article says it all:

'U.S. nonfarm payrolls expanded by a seasonally adjusted 431,000 in May, but virtually all the new jobs were temporary jobs at the U.S. Census, leaving private-sector hiring very weak in May, the Labor Department reported Friday. ... The unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 9.7% in May from 9.9% in April, according to a separate survey of 60,000 households. The decline wasn't particularly good news, however, because the drop was due to 322,000 people dropping out of the labor force.'

With fears of a double-dip recession continuing, and remaining volatility in the housing and stock markets, claims of steady economic recovery seem premature at best.

L'Aquila is Good for the Soul

President Obama has apparently discovered that recovery is 'a long way off.' Doubtless he'll admit at any moment that the stimulus is just not working. 'President Obama said Friday that leaders of the industrialized nations have agreed to continue fueling economic growth while strengthening regulatory measures but they also realize that full recovery is "still a ways off."'

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the 'Blue Dog' Democrat coalition is putting its foot down on the health care bill:

'As the Democratic leaders worked feverishly to finalize details of the legislation for a planned Friday rollout, the Blue Dog Coalition sent a letter late Thursday night saying the bill "lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken." ... Pelosi repeated her pledge earlier Thursday that a government run health care plan would be included in the House bill. Ross said conservative Democrats have major reservations about how a public option would work. In the letter and in the meeting, the conservative Democrats stressed they did not want a "Medicare-like" structure for a public option.'

Maybe something in the air of Italy is good for the soul, or at least the debate, in America.