The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ new employment numbers for October alongside revised jobs data for August and September show that job creation is not gaining enough traction. Last month 80,000 jobs were added to our economy, and revisions to the data from the two previous months added another 102,000 jobs. But that is not the kind of sustained job creation our economy needs to leave the Great Recession of 2007-2009 behind us. (see chart)

What explains the slow job creation? Well, the L-shaped recovery is due in large part to conservatives in Congress refusing to support President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act. The connection is explained in my column at MarketWatch.

Heather Boushey is the Senior Economist at American Progress.