Remember when Barack Obama said he would apply a “singular focus” on the economy in the new year? Two weeks later, we can see the fruits of this concentration by The Smartest President Evah in this exchange at a grip-and-grin at Thompson Creek Manufacturing last Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics had just announced the latest figures on employment and joblessness, and one of the reporters wanted Obama’s reaction to the confusion between the jobless rate drop and the small number of jobs added. Obama told him … that it was above his pay grade, or something:
After reading his prepared remarks on the economy at a window manufacturer on Friday, President Obama sought to take some photos with workers when a pool reporter caught up with him and asked him to explain the connection between the drop in the unemployment rate and the lower-than-expected number of jobs added in December.
Obama’s response, according to the pool:
“You know, you’ve got to talk to Austan Goolsbee. That’s his job.”
Obama then posed for some photos.
The answer is rather simple, which is that more people left the workforce, dropping the civilian participation rate by 0.2%. Either Obama didn’t know the answer, or he didn’t want to go on the record admitting it. Instead, he returned his singular focus back to posing, which is not coincidentally the only task at which Obama has excelled in his presidency.
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Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!
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