I mentioned this yesterday, but it’s worth repeating as an illustration of just how miserable the jobs situation looks. As Calculated Risk lays out,
As part of the annual budget, the Obama Administration released the underlying economic assumptions too (see Page 13 of PDF). For GDP, they are forecasting real GDP growth of 2.7 percent in 2010, followed by 3.8 percent, 4.3 percent and 4.2 percent in 2013. For unemployment, the forecast is for an average of 10 percent in 2010, with a decline to 9.2 percent in 2011, 8.2 percent in 2012 and 7.3 percent in 2013.
If unemployment is still around 8 percent in 2012, Obama’s a one-termer, presuming the Republicans don’t nominate a Dede Scozzafava/Lady Gaga ticket, right? Give them credit for avoiding a rosy scenario in at least one aspect; their assumption right now is that the economy’s performance in the coming three years will probably lead to additional job losses, centered on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.