Jobs number lower than expected

Congratulations to the 96k who managed to find a job last month. Condolences to the other 210k that thought Bush was telling the truth when he said his tax cut would create 306k a month, and to the 18k who lost manufacturing jobs last month.

I heard a Republican state that with the job revision, Bush has created 1.8 million jobs in the last year. Quick math show the average to be 150k a month, barely enough to keep up with population growth. Jobwatch.org points out that this upward revision is actually disappointing in the historical context of things.

Disappointment all around.

*UPDATE* How could we have missed these discouraging numbers as well?

Consumers cut back on their borrowing in August by the largest amount since the end of 1990 as confidence in the economy fell and energy prices surged.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that consumer credit dropped by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 percent in August, or by $2.4 billion, from the previous month. That was the largest dollar decline since December 1990.

The first decline in nine months left total consumer credit outstanding at $2.04 trillion.

Consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, declined in both August and September, reflecting concerns about the availability of jobs. Oil prices, meanwhile, set a new high of $52.67 a barrel Thursday.

"I think consumers were spooked by lackluster job creation and frightened by skyrocketing energy prices," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research Corp., addressing consumers' wariness in August about piling on more debt.