The trip is estimated to cost a tad shy of $400,000, if you do the math. Air Force 2 costs $11,555 per hour to operate, Michelle’s hotel ranging from $400 for a single room to $6,500 for a two bedroom villa, then there’s the cost of Secret Service protection and lodging.
* Temporary jobs dropped by 5,600, reversing a streak of strong gains that economists had viewed as a hopeful sign that hiring would pick up.
* Normally, companies load up on temps at the beginning of a recovery when they are waiting for confirmation that growth is gaining momentum. This recovery has been unusual in that temporary hiring did not herald a jump in private hiring.
* Private hiring totaled a lackluster 71,000 in July, below expectations for 90,000 in a Reuters poll. June's tally was revised down to just 31,000 from an initially reported 83,000.
* Government hiring was another worrisome sign. The loss of 202,000 positions reflected the loss of 143,000 temporary Census jobs.
* The total also included 38,000 jobs lost in local government.
You’ll be relieved to know that the Obama’s are going to the Gulf over the August 14th weekend to tour the site of the oil spill environmental disaster. But then are off for ten fabulous days to Martha’s Vineyard.
--Killswitch Politick
