Economy Moving in the Wrong Direction

Today’s latest job numbers show that the labor market is floundering. Private-sector employers added only 57,000 new jobs in June while layoffs in the public sector across the country brought the total new jobs to a mere 18,000. April and May’s data were revised downwards by a total of 44,000 jobs. And the unemployment rate ticked back up to 9.2%. Read our complete report on “Hiring weak in June.”

This is grim news for workers and should be seen as a serious wake-up call to policy makers. We cannot get our fiscal house in order until we get America back to work. The economy will not be able to withstand the shock of running into the debt ceiling early next month, but it will also be an economic tragedy if the negotiations lead to reductions in public spending while the job market is so weak.

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This article was originally published in MarketWatch.