CNN reporter: Bush excuse for unemployment rate ‘ridiculous’

• Tweet
• 
• 

• Tweet

During an economic speech today, President Bush partly blamed a dramatic rise in unemployment on new workers entering the workforce. Later, in a CNN interview, Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chou also said that the increase the unemployment rate was “caused in part by a surge of young entrance into the job market.”

CNN’s Senior Business Correspondent Ali Velshi weighed in that Bush Administration excuses for the poor economy were “ridiculous.” Velshi explained, “I just wish they wouldn’t say that. President Bush said something earlier about how the unemployment rate today — the increase — was because a whole bunch of teenagers have joined the workforce, that’s the point. 100,000 people join the working age working force every month. If we don’t create 100,000 jobs every month, we’re not doing the right thing.”

This video is from CNN’s Newsroom, broadcast June 6, 2008.

Download video