WaPo's Rubin Repackages Romney Press Release As Economic Analysis

Washington Post political blogger Jennifer Rubin doesn't think much of today's jobs report, which showed 114,000 jobs added in September and the unemployment rate dropping to 7.8 percent. Under the headline “This is no jobs recovery,” Rubin writes:

Consider that if labor force participation had held even since January (when it was 8.3 percent), the jobless rate would be 8.4 percent. If the job participation rate were the same as when Barack Obama took office, the rate would be 10.7 percent. The broader U-6 rate (unemployed plus total employed part time for economic reasons) held steady at 14.7 percent. Obama can spin the numbers anyway he likes, but this is not an economic “recovery” in a meaningful sense. We are adding fewer jobs on average per month than we did last year (143,00 vs. 153,000).

If any of those talking and data points look familiar, that's because they also appeared in the press statement Mitt Romney's campaign released this morning in response to the report. Rubin actually reprinted that statement in the paragraph immediately following the one above, as if to reinforce their similarities:

The Romney campaign's initial statement summed up the general reaction on the right: "This is not what a real recovery looks like. We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we've lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office. If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11%. The results of President Obama's failed policies are staggering - 23 million Americans struggling for work, nearly one in six living in poverty and 47 million people dependent on food stamps to feed themselves and their families. The choice in this election is clear. Under President Obama, we'll get another four years like the last four years. If I'm elected, we will have a real recovery with pro-growth policies that will create 12 million new jobs and rising incomes for everyone."

This isn't “analysis.” Rubin's just passing along and endorsing the Romney campaign message. She's a Washington Post blogger with the job description of a Romney surrogate.