not only do we act when the unemployment rate was lower than it is now, but we acted to extend unemployment insurance time after time when long-term unemployment insurance, when long-term your honolong-term unt half of what it is today. president after president, congress after congress responded. but not now. when times were better, we respond. but not now. when fewer people were struggling, rhea su we respondet not now. the when foreign competition www.nowasnot as fierce, we respt not now. when banks were irresponsibly overleveraged, when insurance companies were dangerously undercapitalized, when rating agencies rated trash as treasure, and when mortgage companies used reprehensible practices that harmed family after family, altogether threatening to create cataclysmic crisis, we responded, but not now. for millions of americans suffering amidst horrible economic conditions not of their own making, who play by the rules, who are looking for work, who are struggling, who are suffering, we have more than 50 years of history of responding and extending unemployment insurance, but not now. i

this is a bipartisan effort because this unemployment, particularly a long-term unemployment problem knows no political dimension or geographic dimension or ethnic or gender dimension. it is an american problem, and we're responding on a -- in a bipartisan way, senator heller and i. we put what we thought was a pathway to provide immediate aid to these job seekers and give us enough time to work through these complex issues that many of my colleagues have raised, issues about, well, can we make the program overall more effective, can we incentivize individuals to seek more employment more efficiently, can we integrate training? all of those are important issues, but in the context of a three-month emergency extension, the first thing to do is get the relief to the people and then to sit down conscientiously and deliberately and work on the details. when this concession wasn't enough to break a filibuster, democrats put forth another proposal, again, after consultation with our republican colleagues, and i thank senator heller, senator collins, senator portman, senator coats, many oth

my minnesota unemployment insurance ran out last week, and i applied for federal emergency unemployment compensation just this past week. i ask you to please ask yourself what you would do to provide for your family. i have a 9-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. i have the sole provider for my family. i am not looking for a handout, nor do i believe that staying on unemployment insurance is in my best interest. but the $483 a week it provides will at least allo allow me to e my mortgage payment. close quote. ann was a remarkably articulate -- she volunteers at her son's school. she volunteers at her son's school partly she wants to be involved in her son's life but also to network. one of the counselors there said the hardest job there is is looking for a job. minnesotans like ann and the millions of americans around the country in the same situation, many of them have worked for decades. every one of these ways and -- e of these women had worked for decades and had paid into unemployment insurance for decades. they don't deserve to be punished or lose their homes because they're u

of unemployment. and i will explain that gap in just a moment. so by 2024 we think the unemployment rate will be 5.5%. and that difference of half a percentage point relative to what was the case before the recession, comes in two pieces in our analysis. the first piece is about a quarter point remaining extra unemployment, remaining at higher natural rate of unemployment, because of the stigma and emotion of skills from long-term unemployment. so we think the natural rate will be about 5.25%. rather than the 5% it was before the recession. and this shows, i think, the very long shadow of having so many people out of work for such a long period of time. we also think there will be about a quarter percentage point gap between the natural rate of unemployment and the actual rate of unemployment. and that reflects what we expect to be a shortfall of output relative to its potential. let me explain that, that's a difference in our projection this year from our projections in past years. if you look back a

when you see the unemployment rate dropping from thirty three to about thirty seven or so that is a result of private sector job creation far more than ever as a result of government job to create the preceding three years herbert hoover's response to the great crash which was almost the same as roosevelt had been one of the little we know he was when he lets out a teleconference with the last time he threw not until his last nine months he basically sat back and says this you know i was saying to liquidate everything and i think it's worth engaging that but i don't think we should go back all the way to hoover we're talking about how presidents all basically govern the same way and i i believe that's true maybe you disagree but what reagan did was was a mentor of mine who was doing i don't know obama and he would and would be well served to do a continued. you know some of reagan's greatest achievements actually were following carter initiative reagan increased the size of i mean a kind of i never saw what happens is when you increase the size of government during a result as you t

broader measures of unemployment are even more elevated, relative to normal and standard unemployment rates. there is an unusually high incidence of long spells of unemployment. via number of measures, our economy is not back, and the labor is not back to normal. >> the chair recognizes the chairman from alabama for five minutes. >> thank you. last week the governor appeared before the committee and said that the clo ownership issues was at the top of the issue for the interagency working group. what additional information do you need to resolve the clo issue and clarify how legacy securities will be treated under volcker? >> this is something a number of banking organizations have asked the regulators to look at. regulators recently issued a ruling, and this is something there to rallying gauged in looking at. i will have something on that reasonably soon. >> i was going to ask you, how soon do you think we can expect you to issue some guidance? >> i don't have a definite -- >> but you think maybe soon? >> hopefully. >> do you know what remedy the group is suggesting? >> i do not. th

unemployment has come down. december, the committee judged there had been enough progress made in the labor market to begin a measured pace of reduction and asset purchases. we decided to act in a measured and deliberate way and take measured steps to watch and see what was happening in the economy. we have indicated that the outlook continues to be one in which we expect and are seeing continued improvement in the labor markets that implies grow strong enough, going forward to anticipate such improvements. and inflation, which is running below the objective, if we see evidence that it will come back toward our objective over time, we are likely to continue reducing the pace of our purchases in measured steps. we have also indicated that the program is not on the present course, which means that if the committee judges there to be a change in the outlook, that it would reconsider what is appropriate with respect to the program. >> thank you very much. i yield back my time. >> the committee recognizes the gentlem

that is how we think about the differences and the natural rate of unemployment is a term used for unemployment for structural reasons. last year the unemployment rate was 7% and 5% for saying the natural rate is six which is same way as saying half the structural and have to cyclical. i think the elevated rates of unemployment among young people are very serious concern and as i mentioned we think a number of people have been discouraged from working enough that they will not come back to the labor force even as the labor market improves. some of those people are older people people who decided to retire earlier than they might have otherwise been that some of those people are young people and their loss from the labor force is obviously an economic loss for the country as a whole and potentially a serious social was. we have some other work underway it's not finished yet and i don't want to get ahead of the work but something we are looking at more closely. >> here's another one on unemployment, a big topic obviously. the lowering unemployment rate is down historical observation that is succe

he said unemployment is 6.6%. charlie we will have them respond to your numbers. >> guest: the official numbers the bureau of labor statistics puts out. he is right, there are many disputes over what the actual unemployment rate is. i have not heard 37% trade that's a little high but some experts and economists have argued it could be as high as 16 to 18% depending on who you count. that is the question, how many people do you count. as i said earlier a very serious long-term problem is people who are dropping out of the workforce. >> host: what about the debt as well? what has been the impact? >> guest: the debt is all -- actually somewhat stabilized compared the last few years when it seemed to be shooting up in an alarming rate. it's now about 70% of gdp and there has been a debate in economics over how high the debt and get a ford starts to drag on economic growth. there was a paper that came out in 2010 by two eminent economist ken rogoff and reinhardt who suggested high debt was a drag on growth but there wa

last july the state cut unemployment benefits from. we 76 weeks. it dropped from 8.9 percents for 6 poirn 9%. >> you atlabt to cutting 50 weeks of unemployment? >> when you suddenly get cut off you realize, i need to cut a job. and people in north carolina apparently found jobs. >> reporter: others attribute the decline to unemployed workers giving up their search for work and they note the drop in unemployment has been coupled with a big increase in the number of people there on food stamps. >> i get job online alerts. >> reporter: as for trista, she says she'd be happy to take a job outside her medical billing field. she says she's applied for all kinds of jobs during the past year. everything from driving a school bus or truck to clerical jobs at cvs and walmart. even as a flight attendant with delta. all met with rejection. >> we regroat inform yet to inf have not been considered for this position at this time. thank you for your time and best wishes in your future endeavor. delta acquisition team. i've gotten that three times, from delta. >> a

but the unemployment rate in the country remains very high and the rate of the long-term unemployment is higher today than it has been at any point in decades. except for the past few years it's come down a little off its peak but it remains extraordinarily high and the cost of that to the economy and the people involved. >> i hadn't planned on it but i want to follow-up with what he said because i think it's important. i agree with all of your answers to questions about what stimulates a short-term growth. and of course we have done that. we had a stimulus package in the first year of the president's administration. we did a trillion dollars health care bill. and as i look at all of that, the effort that was supposed to produce short-term result, what i see from your report is that it virtually doubled the public debt held by the public. so, we were so committed to the short-term stimulus that we borrowed more as a percentage of gdp coming in in about five years than we had in the previous nation combined and we can argue whether that was a good idea or bad idea but we did that to cr

but the unemployment rate in the country remains very high and the rate of the long-term unemployments higher today than it has been at any point in decades. except for the past few years it's come down a little off its peak but it remains extraordinarily high and the cost of that to the economy and the people involved. >> i hadn't planned on it but i want to follow-up with what he said because i think it's important. i agree with all of your answers to questions about what stimulates a short-term growth. and of course we have done that. we had a stimulus package in the first year of the president's administration. we did a trillion dollars health care bill. and as i look at all of that, the effort that was supposed to produce short-term result, what i see from your report is that it virtually doubled the public debt held by the public. so, we were so committed to the short-term stimulus that we borrowed more as a percentage of gdp coming in in about five years than we had in the previous nation combined and we can argue whether that was a good idea or bad idea but we did that to crea

long-term unemployment remains historically high. we see recent college graduates, many of whom are burdened by high student loan debt, have a tough time finding work. income inequality is becoming more severe and more families are being squeezed out of the middle class. as such and while inflation remains weak, i caution the fed not to move too quickly to exit from its current policies until we are on solid fooding and the recovery is more widespread. while the fed's policies have helped the recovery, the feed can only do so much congress needs to act to ensure recovery is more widespread and generations of americans are not shut out of economic opportunity. we cannot solve our physical problems by imposing immediate and arbitrary cuts and we need to invest in the economy today to ensure future prosperity. it is important we implement policies that work alongside monetary policy to help get americans back to work. chairman yellen -- actions are affecting the economy and where the economy is heading. i now turn to ranking member crap

so the issue of extending long-term unemployment benefits. john, what's the very latest with this particular bill? >> well, the latest news, del, the vote at this hour is being postponed until the 2:00 eastern time. and let me remind you, this is the emergency unemployment compensation act. they got it drafted under the bush administration, and it has been reopted every year. it lapsed and millions of americans are without their long-term unemployment benefits. so enter harry reid, in the senate. and jack reed in rhode island. and they are trying to extend iting, and pay it retroactively for those who mixed out. and they are going to allow employers to smooth pensions, which means pay a bit less into the pension pot. which means that the government can tax it, and that's how it's going to be paid for. republicans have said many times, on principle, to pay debt low. and harry reid coming to the floor of the senate this morning at 9:30 and postponing it from 11:00 to 2:00, and really, he thinks that the republicans should lump in on this. three

guest: the unemployment benefits are on the horizon. as for executive action, other presidents have used executive action more than president obama. republicans feel the executive action has been more targeted to areas that they are opposed to, and that is part of the problem. the epa regulations which will hurt coal plants. it will make energy more expensive for everybody. republicans fight against that type of executive action. their argument is they are on the side of americans, not just opposed to the president. the caller made a good point about the government shutdown. it truly damaged the repulicans. the shutdown cost the economy tens of billions of dollars to have people out of work and we had to pay back pay to federal workers that weren't working. they were making a point about the health care law, wanting to delay it. some feel justified, particularly now, because the health-care law had so many problems. that is not a view the democrats have of the health care law. the shutdown was not great for the economy. democrats made a

the rate of unemployment in the u.k.t just 0.1% from the banks 7% threshold to consider an interest rate rise. jonathan ferro has more. months of the first phase of forward guidance from the bank of england, it's pretty much dead. they tied it to an unemployment rate of 7% but they did not see it falling to that level by 2016 and today they find themselves not 0.1% away. they will have to refine the forecast and tweak forward guidance to explain what they will be doing next. anotherl target threshold because this is clearly not the way to do it. correctly will bring you live coverage of the bank of england inflation report at 10:30 a.m. >> more on the inflation report. our next guest will weigh in on what the central bank will tell us later on today. stay with us. ♪ >> time for today's company and news. toyota recalling nearly 2 million prius vehicles worldwide. half of the cars affected are in alln and it applies to third generation vehicles. there have been no accidents or injuries related to the recall. in nearly 500

the actual unemployment rate. i am not sure that is the right way to calibrate that calf that is partly because of the last half-dozen years. but preceding that falling more short of potential. first the pad and is clear enough. the long-term budget outlook. >> says cbo attached to the u.s. recession of the next ten years and what might be the impact on long-term services? >> we do not have an estimated public perception. the shortfall the early show of revenue potential could be an economy that does not have recession, simply never quite gets itself to full employment. are an outcome that reflects a boom. the changes meant to take on average outcome. lots of combinations of booms and busts. that could get us there. this phenomenon, our long-term budget outlook last fall. over a longer time we at output that reduces the task all little bed, reduces tax revenue a little bit. a factor, making deficits and debts larger than they otherwise would be. .. [inaudible conversations] >> on tuesday, attorney general older we

unemployment was a problem, but not a crisis.nomist heller saw room for improvement, but politician kennedy held back. then, in 1962, walter heller saw his chance. the economy sputtered in '62, and i pushed hard for a tax cut. the treasury resisted a big tax cut. i wanted a down payment in '62 to make sure we didn't fall into a recession and go ahead in '63. he didn't buy that. in '62, he bought the idea of an across-the-boards tax cut. every dollar released from taxation that is spent or invested will help create new jobs and new salaries. these can create other jobs and salaries and more customers and more growth for an expanding american economy. although kennedy agreed with him, heller had galbraith to contend with. every now and then, his shadow would fall across the white house when he'd come home to report from india. the president would say, "galbraith's been lobbying against your tax cut." i had access to the president and expressed myself with some vigor that if we passed tax cuts, they would become too popular with con

so when you have low demand and you have high levels of unemployment. then that's that's symptomatic right so this is a skinned. people to compete for the available jobs people have to work to eat businesses only hire if they can get it on their terms and so you get continuous competition for the available jobs and you're always funny a job offer exult there because business will hire those people at a lower rate than people who are already working and then those people will be let go or one way or another be out of the business and so it's a continuous replacement process of low income people replacing you know wage earners replacing higher wage earners and it's only of course there are thousands of anecdotes that was floating around for years and it is true. now in reading some of your recent commentary essay that you point to interest income as a key a sustaining demand a key to sustaining demand now would you explain how this fits into your view of the effects of interest rates on the economy you know one of the. reasons the deficit is becoming a re

so broader measures of unemployment are more elevated relative to normal than our standard unemployment rate. in addition t there are an unusually high sneincidence of g duration spells of unemployment. so by a number of measures, our economy is not back. the labor market is not back to labor in terms of maximum. >> the time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from alabama. the chairman baucus for 11 minutes. >> thank you. last week the governor appeared before the committee and said that the clo ownership issue was at the top of the agenda for the interagency working group, which, you know, you have the fed and four other members, i think. what additional information do you need to resolve the clo issue and clarify how legacy securities will be treated under volcker? >> so this is something that a number of banking organizations have asked the regulators to look at. the regulators recently issued a ruling concerning trups and this is something they're jointly engaging in looking at. we'll have something on that hopefully reasonably soon. >> i was going to ask you that.

all the republicans were saying including me was look, yes, let's extend unemployment insurance. one, let's pay for it. last thing we want to do is add to the debt and deficit and make the economy worse. let's reform this program. i have a specific proposal to do that as do a group of republicans enough to get it across the floor. we need to work with the democrats to get that done. >> a response from senator shumer. >> bottom line is, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are telling people what's good for them but the people don't want it. the person looking for a job for six months, eight months doesn't want to be told, doesn't want to be told they shouldn't get unemployment benefits to keep their house, to keep their car, to pay for gas, to look for a job. the single mom who would like to go home and raise her three kids doesn't want to be told you have to keep that job because we're not going to give you health care. that's the about line. >> senator schumer, immigration, a big focus for you and here you have the house speaker after saying this was the year to do it

broader measures of unemployment are even more elevated relative to normal than our standard unemployment, there are an unusually high incidents of long duration, spells of unemployment. so by a number of mow measures our economy is not back. the labor market is not back to normal in terms of our maximum employment goal. >> the time of the gentleman has, pooird. the chair recognizes the chairman from alabama, chairman mr. bachus, for five minutes. >> last week governor torillo appeared before the governor committee and said the clo ownership issue was at the top of the agenda for the interagency working growhich th fed and four other member, i think. what other information do you need to resolve the clo issue and clarify how legacy securitys will be treated under volcker. >> so this is something that a number of banking organizations have asked the regulators to look at. the regulators recently issued a ruling concerning trups and this is something they're jointly engaged in looking at. and i, you know, will have something hopefully on that reasonably soon. >> okay. i was going to ask you

unemployment, is not like 6.6% unemployment in normal times? >> but mike, how do you communicate that? >> it will be difficult to do that and you will have speeches you make to give people guidance on what is going forward. i want to ask about the statement of inflation not being a problem. betting that inflation will rise over the coming months and the question is, how much is slack is there. on bloomberg surveillance tomorrow -- they argued it -- he will argue, this is much more dangerous than people think. saywill see chairman yellen that they will follow strict policy that will look at the labor market for reasons that we mentioned but this is not the only thing they will look at. they will go day to day to make sure they are not too soft. >> what kind of market can ben bernanke handoff to janet yellen? >> i would much rather be in her spot than his spot in 2008. i think that ben bernanke did a wonderful job of communicating that we are moving to tapering, and handing chairperson yellen an economy where this had been put in place. >> but is

we're not going to extend unemployment benefits. but they have alternating amendments and they want amendments related to -- i mean it's just a george mitchell, who was the democratic leader for a period of time that i served here, a wonderful human being, his statement was don't depend on the republicans. they'll break your heart every time and that's what they're doing. they're breaking our hearts and the 1.6 million people, their hearts are broken. the main proponent of this bill has been jack reed from rhode island. jack reed and i have a contest, i wish we didn't, and that is which state, rhode island or nevada has the highest unemployment. we care about this greatly. but others care about this. i'm sure there are some republicans that care about it but why are they hung up on this foolishness that they can only do it if one time they have alternating amendments, they wouldn't take 20 amendments, mr. president, they are -- there's a handful of republicans who have tried really hard, worked in good faith with senator reed of rho

unemployment continued to go up in 2009 and 2010. the prevalence of very low food security -- host: went up. guest: we have some research evidence that is the safety net be partin, snap would of that. there is unemployment insurance. add income tax credit. all of the pieces of the safety net that help keep things from getting as bad as they might when the unemployment rate went that high. host: caroline ratcliffe of the urban institute. we have had all these government programs for hunger since lbj's great society. why are they working? -- aren't they working? guest: i would say they are working well, we have had declined in food insecurity. without these programs, the levels will be much higher. also, these programs have though: the short term of reducing food insecurity. -- these programs have the goal through the short term of reducing food insecurity. they have long-term benefits, children who have access to the program early in life have better outcomes as adults. looking at obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure. we have t

you can see the unemployment go down in certain areas. that is the beauty of the promise zones. >> you alluded to how the african-american community has been such supporters of this administration. i want to talk to the response thzones.omise helpland, he says, would ks that have been struggling in this recession out of some of the hardest hit economic areas. it would help them get out of there by lowering taxes. he says that the president's plan is just picking winners and losers. do you think that rand paul plan could help these hardest hit cities? >> i think it could. if --from a libertarian an open,ve, which is , noter will come will come strategic idea. >> what do you mean not strategic? thes you said earlier, president has been looking at what is going on in the african-american community from kind oflens, and is now closing that lands end trying to focus on things that he can do specifically for job-training, raising the minimum wage, things that he can really use as a matrix to measure what the effects of what he is trying to do.

this country needs leadership on fighting this unemployment, this structured unemployment. in every factor, it is a shame that our young people have this rate of unemployment. many are giving up. they don't even calculate that in the work force, where they've given up. and ms. yellen, i am so proud of you, but i am going to be even more prouder if you become that chairman of fed to right the wrong and take us -- >> time of the gentleman has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentle lady from minnesota, ms. bachman. >> thank you, chairman. we're extremely grateful for you being here. also, good luck on your service as the head of the federal reserve. we want you to be successful. >> thank you. >> we asked our constituents what their number one question would be today. this is a historic opportunity to have a new federal reserve chair, and we had a plethora of responses from constituents with questions. but it was interesting that there was a commonality of the questions that came forth. one was really from our financial institutions and businesses. and the first was from

that's why we're trying to extend the unemployment insurance. the good news, this is a solvable problem. we have gotten it down. it has been coming down steadily, and i think if we stay at it we really can fully recover. >> ideally you want a monthly job creation number that provides jobs for new entrance for the workforce, and pulls people who were idle off the sidelines. what's it going to take to get that kind of creation month after month to set up a virtuous cycle? >> right, in january we did see the participation rate go up as we not just added jobs in the household survey but had more people coming back and looking for those jobs. so that was good news all around. and we'd like to see more of that. i think 2014 we have a great opportunity. we got a budget deal. if we handle the debt limit properly, if congress handles it properly, then we have a stage for greater certainty and greater ability for the private sector to move ahead and drive our economy. >> is there a change in the provisions? >> yes, we saw positive revision force november

the unemployment rate down to 6.6%, a five-year low.he administration highlighting some of the positive signs in this report, but also saying it makes the case for extending those emergency on implement benefits that have expired. >> we are making progress. this report showed about 47 consecutive month up in the air job growth. rateong-term on implement is still 2.3% will which is historically and a near high. we need to extend those benefits. clearly a blow to democrats who thought that the economy was ready to fly in 2014. reportcans feeling this bolsters their case that the obama economy is still in trouble. we could be hearing more from the president this hour on the state of the economy, he is in michigan. >> one threat facing the economy right now, another debt ceiling showdown about what is the latest on that front? >> no movement for -- either side. what theyiguring out want to return for a debt ceiling increase, but they cannot agree amongst themselves what to ask or. today we had the debt ceiling suspension officially lifted,

any no vote on extending unemployment is a no vote, because they don't want to extend unemployment benefits. a among has gone by already, and it is only a three month extension. may know there are people out there really hurting. the senator from rhode island who has been responsible trying to draft this measure through, said that although it looks as if there's a lot of partisanship, actually behind the scenes there's been a lot of work, and in this couple of hours of delay, between the original scheduling of the vote, and now, there's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes take a look. >> this was not a my way or the highway. this was trying to find a bipartisan path way. and we are still searching. >> so, dell, let me tell you the time line. the vote is going on now, so whether the votes are there for harry reid and jack reid, this is a procedure vote. they are trying to a vinculo churr. then there will be two more votes. one to close it often, another to see final passage. cloture and then the whole issues moves over. >> as you listen to the debate, is there a sense they have mov

i had to take some immediate action to reduce unemployment. and that action resulted in the largest drop in unemployment in the country in north carolina. we're now below 7%, 6.9%, the largest drop in unemployment. now if you consider that to be a disaster -- >> hold on a second now. i've looked behind these talking points. and your, talk about talking points. >> they're just facts. they're just facts. we were the fifth highest unemployment rate in the country, we're not even in the top 30 any more. >> the reason for that is not because so many people got jobs but a lot of people quit looking. a lot of people don't understand when you're on unemployment you're getting paid to look for a job. and when you get that rug taken out from under you, people quit. isn't it true that you have the biggest contraction in your labor force in your state's history because of your policies? >> our contraction is the same rate a z the rest of the nation, in fact slight below the rest of the nation and you have to look at the baby boomers. but in the next month

but the unemployment rate in the country remains very high and the rate of the long-term unemployment is higher today than it has been at any point in decades. except for the past few years it's come down a little off its peak but it remains extraordinarily high and the cost of that to the economy and the people involved. >> i hadn't planned on it but i want to follow-up with what he said because i think it's important. i agree with all of your answers to questions about what stimulates a short-term growth. and of course we have done that. we had a stimulus package in the first year of the president's administration. we did a trillion dollars health care bill. and as i look at all of that, the effort that was supposed to produce short-term result, what i see from your report is that it virtually doubled the public debt held by the public. so, we were so committed to the short-term stimulus that we borrowed more as a percentage of gdp coming in in about five years than we had in the previous nation combined and we can argue whether that was a good idea or bad idea but we did that to cr

of aspects of the unemployment story. we will put the pieces together and try to understand where this economy is. nothing radical. we threw out a metric. that metric has changed a little more. other parts of the puzzle -- >> it all depends on what kind of recovery they seek. there is always this productivity puzzle. >> that is key for the inflation picture as well. it is all about the reason we are in this position. now the pressure is on to do something else. what if they meet those expectations and find out in 1.5 hours. >> thank you so much. >> a reminder, we will bring you the bank of england inflation u.k.t live from 10:30 a.m. time. >> italy is dealing with a political power struggle. the prime minister's future is in doubt as a result of a passing rift. rome euroelcome our cheap. give us a sense of, in italy, every couple of months, we talk about the government possibly falling. this time, you have a real contender and he could challenge the leadership. >> that is right. here we are again. hello. zi, who is we hav

the unemployment rate itself, does it matter anymore? >> i am calling this the janet yellen dilemma. they have tied policy to an unemployment rate of 6.7%. it were not expecting that to happen until next year. now.e at 6.7% right good news, not quite. the first one is the unemployment rate. down to 6.7%. the second chart is the participation rate. the percentage of working age people active in the labor force were actively working for work. it has steadily been falling. it is in a range we have not seen in a number of decades. this is hard to explain. demographics one of them. people dropping out of the workforce. people are giving up. consensus, it is the falling unemployment rate is not necessarily an indication. the likes of goldman sachs think we could have a lower unemployment rate because a lot more people will drop out of the workforce. >> good or bad. that number breaks later on. >> 1:30 p.m. london time. >> the world's most expensive games begin with the opening ceremonies tonight. ryan joins us with more and what the games mean

and the unemployment rate today would be 10.8%. that is not a success no matter how the white house tries to spin it. >> dan pfeiffer today,

unemployment benefits by quitting your job. you can't proactively walk away from a job. >> and get paid vacation. >> exactly. you have to have lost your job through no fault of your own you. had to have been laid off or let go through no fault or action of your own. you also can't have been fired for cause and qualify for unemployment benefits. these are people who have done nothing wrong. >> and paid into unemployment. some of this is their money. >> some of this is their money. because when they had that job, exactly, they paid into the system. so you're essentially saying that these people -- you have to argue they have done nothing wrong. they paid into the system and sorry, you're cut off and you're lazy and you're immoral. it's really cruel, but it also makes no sense, a lot of them, were their own constituents, people who were voters, people who had homes, who were homeowners. >> you know what else is very striking to me? this used to not be a partisan issue. for example, under president bush, unemployment benefits were

. >> and unemployment. looking behind the latest numbers next on pbs news hour weekend. >>> good evening. thanks for joinings. attorney general eric holder moved today to extend the same rights to married same-sex couples at heterosexual couples. same sex spouses of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty will be eligible for federal benefits. they will not be offered to offer testimony that could incriminal natuin krim n incriminal criminal nature their spouses and bureau of prisons will offer the same rights. it came in remarks and will go in toeffect monday. northern california is finally getting relief from the extreme drought. meteorologists say as much as 3 inches of rain could fall in the san francisco wbay area monday. even more rain is expected north and east of the city. but meteorologists say it will take several more major storms to put a department in the drought which threatens water supplies to both agricultural and urban areas. last year was the driest ever recorded since californ

the unemployment rate hit a five-year low, though, 5.6% because only -- only because some people who have been out of work for a long time are simply giving up looking for work. in michigan today president obama put the best face he could on the new numbers. >> our unemployment rate is now the lowest it's been since before i was first elected. the companies across the country are saying they intend to hire even more folks in the months ahead. and that's why i believe this can be a breakthrough year for america. >> the job numbers not only impact the economy but certainly the 2014 midterm fight for congress. let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger. certainly all the news in this report was not good news for the president politically. >> no, you know, as he pointed out, the unemployment rate was down to 6.6%, the lowest it's been in the last five years, but the problem he's got is that the economy actually added fewer jobs than anticipated just over 100,000 jobs. people anticipated 180,000 jobs being added. and the question is is this due to the weather or is this due

the unemployment rate is 6.6%, down just a bit from december. president obama signed the agriculture bill into law. under the measure, $8.6 billion will be cut from the program over the next decade. the congressional budget office says an estimated 876,000 households will be affected by the cuts. >>> bosnia, the third day of unrest in that country. presidential ransacked set on fire, as thousands of protesters took to the street. >>> the devastated city of homs, about 80 residents were evacuated today as part of a three day cease fire between the government and opposition are is groups. under this agreement women, children and the elderly were allowed to leave. 2500 others are still under siege. residents there have been trapped for more than a year and a half with no access to food or medical care. some of those who have escaped syria are traveling to washington asking u.s. lawmakers to intervene. one of them is just 23 years old, her name is heva suwan, a survivor of a chemical attack. she talked to us about what she remembers the night this a

but we have 10% unemployment in this country right now. you're going to put a half a million americans out of work. >> i just want to say for the record, i appreciate your honesty and your candor. you don't think we should have a minimum wage that makes you the rabble. >> we never raised the minimum wage and wages for workers went up in the 1980s. >> don't deny this. 32 million american workers, women and minorities, they favor a 10.10 minimum wage. 30 million american workers, the ones that clean up after us -- >> i don't know where you get that number 30 million. >> between 7.25 and 10.75, which is inflation adjusted since 1968. economists like you have said worker productivity has doubled, automation. you got two walmart workers in 1968 making the work of one walmart worker today and they're making less. so this -- >> this isn't true. >> this is a restoration of the minimum wage to 46 years ago. going backwards into the future. >> you're forgetting something. we have something called the earned income tax credit which provides -- >> you

unemployment benefit to help cover living costs so workers can move from one area of high unemploymentand perhaps to an area flow unemployment rates in order to accept employment that would require them to move? >> congressman i'm afraid we have not had an opportunity to analyze that proposal. it's a very very interesting one and might well have beneficial effects that we need to sit down and spend some time trying to think that through to give you a useful answer. >> does that data bear out that in some areas of america today a snapshot of it is employment opportunities are much greater in certain regions are states where other states unemployment is higher in other regions? >> the labor market is tight in some places in very poor and others. historically what has helped to bring the labor market back to a better place after previous downturns has been the mobility of people and there's evidence mobility of americans has declined over time which may be an aggravating factor. we have to try to think through how a particular possibility -- policy might be able to address that. >> you do

>> when you talk about unemployment and mobile technology, yes. people are talking to me every day saying i have this great cabinetry workshop, can i show you my designs, absolutely. that may also help people get where they want in terms of jobs just by simply reaching out across these social channels. >> thanks for being here. much appreciated. congratulations, christiane lemieux. bringing a classic childhood toy to life. and if the pork supply is at risk. the future of meatless innovation from the inventor of the veggie dog. ♪ >> two big movies hitting the screen this weekend. the lego movie and the monuments men. looking -- following a group looking to preserve our work. -- the war. >> hitler and his group was deciding not only with the kill everybody but they would systematically take all of their history with them. if they did not like it they would destroy it and eventually they would destroy all of it when he was losing the war. and it was not enough that he had to kill everybody. he tried to make it as if they did not exist. and that is wo