that figure rose 3/10 of a percentage point. lastly, the average work week shrank in america from 33.9 hours to 33.8 hours. those last two data points tend to show more people are giving up looking for work, more people are having trouble expanding from part-time to full-time work and more people are in fact having their work weeks trimmed. if the average work week had cent up instead of down, even when the overall jobless rate held even it might have portended employers have inching towards hiring again but that s what we see. megyn: what about the politics surrounding the figures, how is the obama administration portraying these numbers, because there was an expectation about these numbers earlier this week. that s true. leading analysts forecast greater job louses, they were expecting 50,000 jobs to be lost, president obama was touring a software firm in northern virginia today, you said that this is signs of stabilization, but it s still not tolerable. the senate majority leader
hiring again. the ranks much the long term unemployed, out of work six months or more dropped bo to 6.1 million, comprising 40% of the jobless population. at the same time the average workweek shrank to 33.8 hours. had it gone the other way it would have been a good sign of expanded hiring. at a joint economic committee hearing republicans focused on the numbers of discouraged workers that swelled one year after the president signed the first stimulus bill in law and much talk of another stimulus package. people are asking what good are we doing pumping these dollars into the economy if we re not seeing any relief for people looking for work for six months. the people looking for work six months now are the ones who were six months into the stimulus package six months ago. other points of contention,
mitt romney over came rick santorum the last rival standing to seal the deal. if i am right senator santorum has nobody to blame himself coming off big wins in missouri, colorado all eyes were on santorum in the debate. let s face it. he was terrible. he seemed unprepared. he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. you can watch how the february 22nd debate cost him. here is the politics track. on the 22nd the day of the disastrous debate he was still up on romney by a point and a half 33.5 to 32 percent. the next day santorum s lead strong to half a point. 33.8 percent to 33.2 percent. by friday the 24th it was all romney 35.2 to 33.6. friday romney s lead stretched to two full points where it remains today according to the
mitt romney over came rick santorum the last rival standing to seal the deal. if i am right senator santorum has nobody to blame himself coming off big wins in missouri, colorado all eyes were on santorum in the debate. let s face it. he was terrible. he seemed unprepared. he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. you can watch how the february 22nd debate cost him. here is the politics track. on the 22nd the day of the disastrous debate he was still up on romney by a point and a half 33.5 to 32 percent. the next day santorum s lead strong to half a point. 33.8 percent to 33.2 percent. by friday the 24th it was all romney 35.2 to 33.6. friday romney s lead stretched to two full points where it remains today according to the