"Post-Convention Bush Buoyed by Jobs Numbers?"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

MOOSIC, Pa. (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) opened his post-convention drive to the Nov. 2 election on Friday by arguing his economic policies are paying off with an increase of 144,000 U.S. jobs in August.

The jobs numbers, while below market forecasts of 150,000, were respectable enough to give the Republican president a lift, and he quickly noted the U.S. unemployment rate of 5.4 percent was a point below the rate last summer and below the average of the 1970s, the 1980s and 1990s.

Bush said at a campaign rally that "because we acted our economy is growing again" and said 1.7 million jobs have been created since August 2003 and more than 200,000 in the last two months.

"Our growing economy is spreading prosperity and opportunity and nothing will hold us back," Bush told a morning crowd of about 10,000 supporters at a minor league baseball stadium in this Scranton suburb of northeastern Pennsylvania.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20040903/pl_nm/campaign_bush_dc

[Cush]

1. Unemployment rate dropped because

people left the work force

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58701-2004Sep3.html

The unemployment rate dipped to 5.4 percent last month from 5.5 percent in July. But the drop in the jobless rate in August came as people left the work force for any number of reasons, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists were predicting the jobless rate to hold steady in August.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Ex-actly

So in this case a drop in unemployment is a bad thing, because it means people have given up hope of finding a job. But, as is often said, facts never get in Bush's way.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. Yes...and Reuters seems intent on stressing how great this is for Bush

from the same article:

"The new data could also bolster Bush's convention-speech argument for broad tax reform. Bush said in New York that if he were re-elected, he would establish a bipartisan panel to come up with options for a tax system that is "simpler, fairer, and pro-growth."