Yahoo! News - Job Growth Anemic in February
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy added a paltry 21,000 jobs last month, according to a surprisingly weak government report on Friday that turned up the heat on President Bush as he seeks re-election.

The February jobs report from the Labor Department was the latest in a string that have fallen far short of expectations, dashing hopes employment would soon turn decisively higher.

In addition, job creation in December and January was weaker than previously thought, by a combined 23,000 jobs.

While the unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent, that was only because many people stopped looking for work. Employment as measured by a survey of households plummeted.

I believe these numbers should also be included in the Labor Dept.'s stats. How many have simple fallen off the unemployment list, but have not found work? I would love to see that figure published (or at least publicized -if it is indeed being recorded- and I think it is somewhere) on a monthly basis.

And how are these people who "stopped looking for work" surviving?

The Bush administration released a forecast last month that looked for average job growth of about 300,000 a month this year -- a forecast that looks increasingly pie-in-the-sky.

"The numbers ... reinforce our view that it would be a terrible mistake to raise taxes on American families and American businesses that are working to create jobs," Treasury Secretary John Snow said, referring to Kerry's proposal to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy.

BAHAHAHA! And still they call for tax cuts! After all, it worked so well in the first place!