Keynesian stimulus policies bear fruit:US unemployment drops to 5.9% lowest since 2008

The unemployment rate dropped to 5.9 % in September the lowest rate since 2008.The broadly defined definition of unemployment which includes discouraged workers who have dropped out of labour markets also fell to 11.8 %. This is very good news and if it continues over the next few months the unemployment rate should begin approaching 5 %. Most of the new jobs were in the retail service sector but education and health care also reported gains.So despite all the criticism of the Obama stimulus including the accurate critique that it should have been larger Obama and the former and current heads of the Federal reserve deserve a lot of credit for bucking the tide of anti-Keynesian dogma and carrying through with a joint program of an accommodating monetary policy including quantitative easing and a substantial fiscal stimulus, albeit one that could and should have been larger. Just contrast the American situation with the mess that austerity and tight money has caused in Europe.

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About haroldchorneyeconomist

I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.
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