December’s disappointing jobs report may have a beneficial consequence for a lingering political fight.

The White House is bickering — nothing new there — with congressional Republicans over whether to extend unemployment benefits for long-term jobless Americans for another three months.

The Labor Department then released figures Friday that showed job growth crept up by just 74,000 in the past month, far below what economists had predicted. The White House thinks extending the insurance for long-term unemployed is the decent thing to do in an economic environment that is still struggling to gain completely firm footing.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/december-2013-jobs-report-white-house-response-102020.html?hp=l16

Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers keep insisting on government budget cuts to pay for the insurance extension.

White House officials shrugged at the disappointing numbers, but say any refusal to help unemployed Americans is going to damage the recovery, which they insist is occurring.

It’s hard to dispute the trend over the past two years that job growth has returned and that the economy is recovering from the worst recession in many Americans’ memory.

Congress ought to do the right thing by those seeking work by lending a hand where it is needed. Those paltry jobs numbers suggest the recovery still needs a boost.