White House Repeats Jobs Mantra: ‘More Work Remains to Be Done’ Nine Months in a Row

    When the monthly employment report came out Friday morning, Alan Krueger, Chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, quickly commented on the White House blog.  He began with the observation that "more work remains to be done":

April 4, 2013 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are helping to build an economy that creates jobs and works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007."

    If the words sounds familiar, there's a good reason.  After a brief respite in March, Mr. Krueger used the same two opening sentences in the April post that were used in the preceding seven Employment Situation blog posts (although to be fair, Megan Slack is credited with the November 2012 entry.)

March 8, 2013 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides evidence that the recovery that began in mid-2009 is gaining traction." 

February 1, 2013 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we pursue the policies needed to build an economy that works for the middle class as we continue to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

January 4, 2013 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

December 7, 2012 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

November 2, 2012 - "While more work remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

October 5, 2012 - "While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

September 7, 2012 - "While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007." 

August 3, 2012 - "While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.  It is critical that we continue the policies that build an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007."

    Further searches reveal that these popular sentence appeared before, as well.  For example, May 2012.

    While copy/pasting is quite a common blogging practice, Mr. Krueger has certainly opened himself up to charges that he is phoning in his monthly responses to the disappointing job situation in the country.  It is the same charge that has been leveled at his boss, President Obama, often in the last four years as his priorities have taken him in many other directions.  If there is "more work to be done," the American public could be forgiven for asking where those jobs are.


Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.