Maine GOP
  • About
    • 2018 Post-Election Survey
    • Contact
    • Our Elected Officials >
      • President Donald Trump
      • Senator Susan Collins
      • Maine Senate Republicans
      • Maine House Republicans
    • County Committees >
      • Androscoggin County GOP
      • Aroostook County GOP
      • Cumberland County GOP
      • Franklin County GOP
      • Hancock County GOP
      • Kennebec County GOP
      • Knox County GOP
      • Lincoln County GOP
      • Oxford County GOP
      • Penobscot County GOP
      • Piscataquis County GOP
      • Sagadahoc County GOP
      • Somerset County GOP
      • Waldo County GOP
      • Washington County GOP
      • York County GOP
    • History of the GOP
    • Our Party Leadership
    • Our Platform
    • Our Staff
    • State Committee
    • Rules and By Laws
    • Town Committee Update
    • 2016 Presidential Caucus
  • Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Event
  • News
    • News and Press Releases
    • Director's Desk >
      • Oppose RCV
    • News You Can Trust
    • Fake News Alert
    • Maine GOP Media Monitor
  • Donate
    • Donate
    • Count ME In
  • Members

News and Notes

From Maine's Premier Political Organization

Employment Ratio Tells the Truth on Jobs Data

10/23/2014

0 Comments

 
 The Dems like to compare the raw number of jobs or GDP growth in Maine to other states' since the recession.  Here's what nonpartisan Maine Department of Labor chief economist Glenn Mills has to say about that:
  • “Every news release that puts us at the bottom for GDP growth or any of the other things is no surprise,” Mills said. . . . Mills said the state was relatively insulated to the impact of the financial crisis, compared with places like New York City where finance jobs dried up or Arizona and Nevada where the real estate market rapidly collapsed. “We had many industries that were hit hard, but our economic structure is not such that we’re heavily weighted to any of the really bad industries that went down so much,” Mills said, noting that resurgence in industries like car manufacturing has also led areas of the country to bounce back more quickly than Maine.
 
See also John Haskell, editor of Pinetreeconomics at the Bangor Daily News, who is "by no means a supporter of LePage nor the Maine GOP," disagreeing with us on "minimum wage, welfare, and bonds," ripping into the Dems' argument (screenshot available on request):
  • "And the problem I have with some of the Dem platform is that arguments lack critical thought. For instance, while I disagree with LePage on his economic policies, the Dem criticisms that Maine lags in job creation is specious. Maine's economic/job growth is constrained somewhat by demographics, and Maine did not fall off the cliff jobs wise following the 2008 recession like some other states did. Steeper dive, steeper climb--hence states like Nevada, which saw its labor market pummeled when the housing market collapsed have had higher job growth rates over the past few years . . . but guess which state is closer to its pre-recession job levels,Maine or Nevada"

So what does the state DOL's chief economist say is a better measure of economic growth?  It's his preferred method for comparing Maine to other states.
  • "Mills said that he considers [the employment-to-population ratio] alongside other measures, but prefers using it to compare Maine to other states and to gauge the overall health of the economy, particularly as the state’s demographic trends have long indicated this would be a period of slow growth in other regards. 

Investing.com had a headline on point last week as well, calling the employment-to-population ratio "The One Job Metric You Need to Watch."
  • "Economists eye the employment-to-population ratio to gauge the nation's ability to maintain job growth and further quantify the strength of the recovery."
And where does Maine rank in terms of its employment-to-population growth since the recession?  Among the top three states in the nation, according to the New York Times. 
 
And if you don't like the employment-to-population ratio, there's always the unemployment rate, which has dropped from 8.0% to 5.5% in LePage's first term, well below the national average.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Angus King
    Caucus
    Convention
    Jared Golden
    Party News
    Press Releases

    Archives

    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

Donate
Paid for and Authorized by the Maine Republican Party.
9 Higgins Street, Augusta, ME 04330 Ben Lombard, Treasurer
  • About
    • 2018 Post-Election Survey
    • Contact
    • Our Elected Officials >
      • President Donald Trump
      • Senator Susan Collins
      • Maine Senate Republicans
      • Maine House Republicans
    • County Committees >
      • Androscoggin County GOP
      • Aroostook County GOP
      • Cumberland County GOP
      • Franklin County GOP
      • Hancock County GOP
      • Kennebec County GOP
      • Knox County GOP
      • Lincoln County GOP
      • Oxford County GOP
      • Penobscot County GOP
      • Piscataquis County GOP
      • Sagadahoc County GOP
      • Somerset County GOP
      • Waldo County GOP
      • Washington County GOP
      • York County GOP
    • History of the GOP
    • Our Party Leadership
    • Our Platform
    • Our Staff
    • State Committee
    • Rules and By Laws
    • Town Committee Update
    • 2016 Presidential Caucus
  • Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Event
  • News
    • News and Press Releases
    • Director's Desk >
      • Oppose RCV
    • News You Can Trust
    • Fake News Alert
    • Maine GOP Media Monitor
  • Donate
    • Donate
    • Count ME In
  • Members