White House Expects Jobless Rate To Remain High

Better late than never, right?

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Thursday released it’s mid-session review, an annual document designed to reflect updates to the president’s yearly budget request.

Though some reports have noted that the White House missed its deadline by roughly a month and a half, the fact is that President Obama’s 2011 budget was never approved (the federal government has been operating under a series of short-term budget extensions since 2009).

The update released today shows that a combination of spending bills passed within the last nine months as well as higher tax receipts have reduced this year’s projected deficit from $1.65 trillion to $1.32 trillion.

However, the report also projects the nation’s unemployment rate — currently at 9.1% — to remain at 9% next year and stay above 6% until at least 2016.

Responding to the report, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that President Obama’s job creation plan, which he will present to a joint session of Congress next Thursday, is “absolutely” aimed at improving that forecast.

“Economists will be able to look at this series of proposals and say that…it would add to economic growth, it would cause an increase in job creation.”

Another key finding in the report: The nation’s debt is expected to top $16 trillion by the end of the 2012 fiscal year.

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