The euro-zone's seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate stood at 8.9 percent in November 2004, unchanged from October, according to Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities in a press release last Friday.
The unemployment rate in Europe has remained much higher than that in the US, whose unemployment rate is only 5.4 percent, which attests to the latter's job-creating prowess.
Larry Kudlow recently enthused over the 2.6 million American jobs created in 2004:
Mainstream economists continue to scoff at the economic power of lower marginal tax rates. But once again a supply-side experiment worked. For all of 2004, nonfarm job additions averaged just under 200,000 per month. At this rate, 2005 will be another banner year for employment and economic growth.
I would attribute the job creation to the economic recovery. Did lower marginal tax rates spur the recovery? Very probably. The real question is whether it could have been better and whether this is sustainable, bearing in mind the expected moderation in growth in 2005.
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