Bad News Friday  —  The two biggest pieces of news today are that President Obama's budget will reflect the tax and spending deal he offered House Speaker John Boehner last year — i.e. it will include the so-called Chained-CPI Social Security benefit cut — and that the March jobs numbers came in way lower than expected.

Obama budget would cut entitlements in exchange for tax increases  —  President Obama will release a budget next week that proposes significant cuts to Medicare and Social Security and fewer tax hikes than in the past, a conciliatory approach that he hopes will convince Republicans to sign onto …

Desperately Seeking “Serious” Approval  —  Sigh.  So Obama is going with the “chained CPI” thing in his latest proposal — changing the price index used for Social Security cost adjustments.  This is, purely and simply, a benefit cut.  —  Does it make sense in policy terms?

People Not In Labor Force Soar By 663,000 To 90 Million, Labor Force Participation Rate At 1979 Levels  —  Things just keep getting worse for the American worker, and by implication US economy, where as we have shown many times before, it pays just as well to sit back and collect disability …

Hiring in U.S. Tapers Off as Economy Fails to Gain Speed  —  The United States economy posted disappointing job growth in March.  —  The nation's employers increased their payrolls by 88,000 last month, compared with 268,000 in February, according to a Labor Department report released Friday.