Obama's Three-Strikes Week

This week was a really bad one for President Obama.  In one report after another, the economy looks to be faltering. This for a man who would want you to believe that his policies have turned things around and that we were on the right track.

First, there was a 5-month low in the Consumer Confidence index with that measurement falling from 68.7 in April to 64.9 in May.  Typically, a falling "Confidence" number indicates that the consumer could be pulling back on spending. And, since consumer spending accounts for 70% of economic activity, future growth could easily be in jeopardy.

Then, yesterday, there was the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) number; an overall measure of economic growth and activity.  It was revised downward from a previously reported 2.2% to an extremely anemic1.9% for the first quarter of this year.   Keep in mind that you need at least 2.5% growth per quarter to make any real dent in the unemployment rate. 

Finally, there was the horrible employment report of this morning.  As yesterday's poor GDP report had foretold,  job growth was extremely anemic with only 69,000 jobs added last month.  For the first time in months, the unemployment rate rose; moving from 8.1% to 8.2% The so-called expert economists thought that 150,000 jobs would be created in the month with the unemployment rate either holding at 8.1% or falling to 8%; completely ignoring the previously reported poor GDP number of 2.2% a month ago (1.9% this morning).   As I have pointed out many times in this blog, you need at least 160,000+ jobs created every month; just to cover population growth. With that in mind, the mere addition of 69,000 jobs is actually negative job growth.

It's hard to believe that these three days of poor economic numbers, taken all together, are somehow a one-month fluke.  A fluke might have been just one of them --- like the jobs number -- being weak.  But, all three taken together paints a picture of a faltering economy.  And, I, for one, would be surprised if things get any better going into the Fall elections.  That's because bad news, in itself, tends to spook the consumer with the economy and job creation suffering in the process.  It could very well be that the 2nd Quarter GDP falls below 1% and unemployment rises to 8.5% in the months ahead.  If true, there is no way that Obama could or should win reelection.