Are we about to drag out of this Republican Dystopia: economy improves despite GOP's treachery?

[Bill USA]

Dow Posts Another Record High, Logs First 9-Day Win Streak Since November 1996
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100549251


Historic Week: Dow Sets All-Time High Above 14,400; Major Averages Rally 2% for Week
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100537377

"Stocks finished higher across the board Friday with the Dow setting a new record high and all three major averages up more than 2 percent for the week"

"All 10 S&P sectors finished higher for the week, led by financials and consumer discretionary."
(more)

February Jobs Report: U.S. Economy Adds 236,000 Jobs; Unemployment Rate Down To 7.7
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/08/february-jobs-report-jobs-unemployment-rate_n_2836174.html

Despite constant budget fights in Washington, the U.S. economy managed one of the best months for job gains in the past year in February, driving the unemployment rate to its lowest level in more than four years.

But the job market would be even better, and the unemployment rate even lower, had not the government spent most of the recovery cutting spending and jobs. And though Wall Street may cheer February's jobs report, the pain of government cutbacks looks to get worse as the year goes on.

U.S. employers added 236,000 jobs to non-farm payrolls in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, up from 119,000 in January. That was the best payroll growth since 247,000 jobs last November and the second-best month for job growth of the past 12 months.

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in January, with 12 million people looking for work. That is the lowest unemployment rate since December 2008, when the rate was 7.3 percent.
(more)

Longer Workweek results in equivalent jobs of 329,000 more jobs
http://www.democraticunderground.com/111632058

The 236,000 jobs the economy added in February lifted markets Friday — and hidden in the details of the jobs report may have been the equivalent of 300,000 more.

That's because the average workweek inched up to 34.5 hours last month, up from 34.4 in January and 33.8 in 2009. It's also within sight of the 34.7 hours per worker per week when the economy peaked in 2006.

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That means employers are near the end of their ability to get more work done by extending workweeks, said Drew Matus, an economist at investment bank UBS. If demand keeps rising — not a certainty with federal budget cuts that began March 1 — hiring should accelerate through the year, he says.

"If people working hourly get more hours, it's more money in their pocket,'' said Matus, who estimated that the gain in hours, multiplied by all private-sector workers, was the equivalent of 329,000 new jobs. "It leads to more demand, more retail hiring and eventually more hiring generally.''
(more)

... Despite the GOP's treachery of killing several jobs bills, threatening Government shut-downs and Government defaults and now the Sequester's hit to aggregate demand, the economy, amazingly, seems to be slowly gaining speed. Given the extraordinary efforts of the GOP to sabotage any and every effort of Obama and the Democrats to breath life into an economy knocked low by the Republican Trickle Down Deregulation disaster (Supply Side prosperity?) it looks as if we just might be slogging our way out of this [font color="red"]Republican Dystopia[/font].

But, I think I'll hold onto my confetti. Never count the GOP out when it comes to ruthless political tactics and implacable opposition to anything that threatens the perquisites of the plutocrats they serve (e.g. GOP seeks to weaken Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).