Unemployment and the Upcoming Election

With the election coming up this year, the topic of unemployment is a hot one. It seems almost all of the political ads I have seen have been focused on jobs. The funniest thing I find is that they are both pretty much saying the same thing about each other, so it sounds like neither candidate has any history of doing anything beneficial to turn the tide on the topic.

Earlier in the year, there was a slight buzz that the jobless rate may break below the eight percent mark before the election, which, as the New York Times said, would be a “major symbolic victory for the incumbent.” However, in March the growth slowed, and then in April and May did little to nothing. So, when the unemployment report for June was released, it appears that the slowdown was not just a fluke, but has now become more of a streak.  In June, the reports show about 80,000 jobs added, with the unemployment rate staying at 8.2 percent, which was only a slight increase over the May numbers of 77,000. These numbers barely make a dent in the thirteen million unemployed workers out there.

While the possibility of an additional stimulus package to be applied before the election does rise as the sluggishness increases, it still appears unlikely that Congress will pass any further stimulus measures before then due to their being in gridlock, but also because it has been hard to determine if additional monetary stimulus would even be effective. Many say that these recent numbers are affected by the seasonal changes this time of year, and so they are a bit imprecise.

So, when it comes to the topic of unemployment and the election, how much will it affect the way you vote? Will you still vote for “your party” if you align with one, or do you think the state of affairs will cause you to vote a different way?

Do you think the President has as much control over the economy, so that any candidate that gets in office will make that major of a difference? Obama made big promises when he ran, but they have seemingly fallen flat and things are in a worse condition than before. Will four more years of him do much better? Will someone else do much better you think? If so, what do you feel would make the difference?

What do you feel is needed to turn this situation around? Share your comments below.