First, do no harm Economists say the mainly important part of the jobs plan President Barack Obama will unveil Thursday night is the renewal of two measures previously in place a cut in Social Security taxes and emergency aid for the without a job his new proposals, like spending more for transportation projects and cutting taxes for company that hire the unemployed, probably wouldn't add many jobs, they say not soon, anyway.
"These are not bold, new, big programs," says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist with IHS Global Insight, "You put the whole thing together, it's going to be pretty small, "The job market needs big help in August, the economy generate zero job growth and the unemployment rate is 9.1 percent, a level more typical for a depression than for a recovery in its third year.
For Obama, who also faces sinking endorsement ratings as he goes before a joint session of Congress and on national TV, the options are limited congress have to approve any new measures, and congressional Republicans be against new spending, "Anything that would be of a big enough size to in fact help the labor market is going to have trouble getting through Congress," says Michael Hanson, leading economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, "and anything that can get during Congress will be too small to be much help."
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