Latest unemployment numbers give Democrats and Republicans a boost

Today's report from the labor department that unempoloyment dipped 1/10th of a percent for the month of July, from 9.5 to 9.4 percent is good news for a beleagured White House, but also provides more fodder for their Republican opponents that the stimulus is not working fast enough. White House officials have been bracing for the report all week, which some economists predicted could bring the unemployment rate above the dreaded 10% mark, not seen since the recession of the early 80's. Today's numbers give them somewhat a reprieve from months of bad news on job numbers, despite a $787 Billion stimulus package that was passed in February.

Both Democrats and Republicans are claiming victory, with Democrats saying that the first unemployment drop in 15 months shows that their policies are slowly working, a small -- if not desperately needed victory -- they can use during the August recess as opponents to Democratic policies turn up the heat in their rhetoric. Republicans, in a statement from RNC chair Michael Steele are saying: "While President Obama was taking a victory lap to celebrate the economy's performance, more Americans lost their jobs and the budget deficit soared to a record $1.3 trillion in July. In the month of July alone 247,000 Americans lost their jobs, which means more than 2.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the president took office. The president said his stimulus bill would keep unemployment from rising higher than 8 percent. It hasn't."

Steele's statement echoes what Republicans have said more and more boldly over the past few months as Obama's poll numbers on his handling of the economy have slowly gone down.