Obama jumps on more bad jobs numbers

The new jobs report out today could help President-elect Barack Obama make the case for his huge economic stimulus plan.

The Labor Department says that another 524,000 jobs were lost during December, increasing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent and increasing the total job losses for last year to 2.6 million.

While the numbers were slightly lower than forecast, they show the challenge facing Obama, whose plan to save or create 3 million jobs in the next two years would basically just keep the economy treading water.

The unemployment rate is the highest in 16 years. And the annual job loss figure is the highest since 1945, coming out of World War II.

Obama said that the jobs report was a "stark reminder" of the need for his stimulus plan.

"Clearly the situation is dire," he said at a news conference to announce his intelligence team.

He is facing some opposition in Congress, but he said he is working well with lawmakers in crafting the package.

Asked about objections from some Senate Democrats about the proposed business tax cuts, Obama said he and Congress share the same goal and his team has provided a framework for the stimulus package.

"We'll continue to hone and refine over the next several weeks," he said, but insisted again, "We cannot delay."

"It's always hard," he said about the legislative process.

Obama also said he is more than happy to accept good ideas, including ones that are better than his, on tax cuts and job-creation programs. It's time, he said, to get past the old Washington habit of being too concerned about where on the ideological spectrum the idea originates.

"The American people are struggling," he said, adding that behind the numbers there are "real lives."

The job losses were widespread: 101,000 in construction, 149,000 in manufacturing, 113,000 in professional and business services, and 67,000 in retailing. A total of 11.1 million Americans were unemployed in December.

Both labor and business groups jumped on the jobs report.

The Laborers’ International Union of North America said that the unemployment rate in the construction industry is now 15.3 percent, and that the December losses marked the 18th consecutive month with significant job loss in the construction industry. In all, 893,000 construction jobs have been lost since the start of 2007.

"President-elect Obama’s plan to put millions of people back to work building America is exactly the leadership we hoped for when he promised earlier this year that he would be the 'build America President' and the half-million members of LIUNA stand ready to make sure his job creation plans succeeds. It’s time to build America, so America works," the union said in a statement.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing said nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last year.

“Only a substantial investment in infrastructure and in America’s productive enterprises, such as manufacturing, will ensure that this recession doesn’t become a 21st century Great Depression. Creating and preserving manufacturing jobs is essential to the recovery. Manufacturing jobs support four or five other jobs in America’s communities and ensure that local and state governments have adequate funding for critical services," Scott Paul, executive director of the alliance, said in a statement.

“Congress should act now to pass a robust and sustained stimulus that focuses on rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure using American-made products. In the coming months, Congress and the Administration should also take steps to reduce America’s trade deficit, which stands at over $700 billion and drives wealth and jobs offshore.”

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said in a statement:

"We are encouraged by the leadership of President-elect Obama and quick action by Congress to prepare legislation for early passage in the new year. The economic recovery package should be large enough to restore sustainable growth. It should meet the immediate needs of struggling American families by extending and modernizing unemployment insurance and providing food stamps. The recovery plan should also provide immediate aid to state and local governments. And the plan should invest in information, communication, transportation and energy infrastructure we will need to succeed in the global economy of the 21st century.

"But short-term problems didn't create the crisis and short-term solutions won't end it. The way our country currently does business is backward - - putting the interests of corporations over working people. Broad-based economic changes must be made to ensure sustained economic growth and broadly shared prosperity. We must restore American competitiveness to deal with our country's unsustainable trade deficit. We must guarantee affordable, quality health care coverage for everyone. We must thoroughly reform our financial regulatory system to provide more transparency and effective government oversight and regulation. And to ensure that the middle class is rebuilt, we must pass the Employee Free Choice Act so workers can bargain collectively with their employers for better lives."

Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, a coalition of progressive and labor groups, said in a statement: “With the U.S. economy sliding further and further into recession, waiting out this economic storm is simply not an option. A stunning 2.6 million jobs disappeared last year, and if nothing is done and done soon, millions more American jobs are at stake. With the economic news continuing to get worse, there is no time to spare to turn our economy around. Efforts by some to slow down the passing of President Elect Obama’s major jobs and economic recovery package could not be more misguided and inappropriate considering the dire situation the economy continues to face – a point underscored with the news today that unemployment is now at an alarming 7.2 percent. It is to put the nation ahead of politics and ideology and support President-Elect Obama’s economic recovery plan that will create or save 3 million jobs through solid and sound long-term investments in health care, energy efficiency, transportation and education.”