Jobs data has Bernanke back in spotlight
By Peter Schroeder – 07/08/12 06:00 AM ET
Another disappointing jobs report has intensified speculation that the Federal Reserve may take further steps to boost a staggering economic recovery.
The politics of such an election-year move, however, would be volatile, and would surely attract criticism from Republicans who are seeking to deny President Obama a second term.
On Friday, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. added just 80,000 jobs, as the unemployment rate remained stuck at 8.2 percent. The figure came in below expectations, and is too low to keep up with population growth, let alone cut into a jobless rate that hampers Obama’s re-election bid.
The report, combined with a number of other gloomy economic reports, suggests that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke may have little choice but to try and do more to fulfill the Fed’s legal obligation to maximize employment, whether it be a third round of massive bond purchases known as “quantitative easing” or another novel step.
https://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/economy/236567-jobs-data-has-bernanke-back-in-spotlight