Jobs numbers belie narrative of sinking economy

The truth is, the most interesting reaction to October job numbers that showed an addition of 271,000 jobs by American employers may come in the next Republican presidential candidates’ debate.

From Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s doomsday forecasting that, thanks to President Obama, the nation is on the verge of collapse, to Donald Trump’s orations about how he can restore the economy, to the repeated pounding of President Obama’s record, Republicans want Americans to believe they’re on the cliff’s edge of another Great Depression.

But it’s just not so. That October jobs figure comes as other nations around the world are struggling. Seriously struggling. Yet in the United States, people are spending more, gas prices are remaining low and, despite stagnant wages, Americans are more optimistic about the future. And that’s with good reason.

In March 2009, the Dow was at roughly 6,500. Now it’s hovering around 18,000. Stock values are way up. Millions of jobs have been created under Obama, after that near depression that began in the last days of the George W. Bush administration.

The unemployment rate has dropped to a seven-year low of 5 percent.

The president’s stimulus plans worked, and better regulation has helped.

The auto industry, once on its last legs, has been saved, and hundreds of thousands of jobs along with it.

And as the Fed is likely to raise the near-zero interest rates in the coming weeks, it appears the nation is in for a good, long run in the building of its economy.

So what will Republicans say now? Perhaps they’ll retreat to talking about the president’s birth certificate.

Economic recovery should not be a partisan issue. But, frankly, by opposing everything the president has done, by talking about the nation’s dire straits as if 2015 were 1929, Republicans do not help their cause. Those Americans who are still hurting are in many ways victims of the do-nothing GOP-run Congress that has resisted, time and again, efforts to help the middle class more and the wealthy less.

But the proof is in the numbers. And the numbers are good. Republicans in Congress, and presidential candidates, could join in offering ideas to help the country maintain the momentum it has achieved under the president. But don’t hold your breath, America.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Jobs numbers belie narrative of sinking economy."