With less than half of the stimulus funds spent, Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said the stimulus package is, well, spent.
In testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, Romer said the economic recovery is what it is.
The New York Times reports:
Although the stimulus program will help the economy grow faster than it otherwise would have done, the effect of the stimulus will not be as pronounced as this year.
In addition, she warned, American companies have registered big productivity gains during the recession, just as they did during the downturn in 2001, and employers may be even more restrained than usual about rebuilding their workforces.
The economy has lost 7.2 million jobs since the recession began almost two years ago, and economists say it needs to produce about 100,000 jobs per month just to keep up with increases in the population. All told, Ms. Romer said, the United States is about 9 million jobs short of where it should be.
The black unemployment rate is 15.4 percent and this is it?!
I need an escape.
