President Obama’s attempt to spin the latest discouraging unemployment numbers as “a step in the right direction” is like telling passengers aboard the Titanic to ignore the sinking vessel and listen to the live music.

“The U.S. unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2 percent in June,” the Wall Street Journal reported, “but a broader measure rose to 14.9 percent as the ranks of the underemployed grew. … The reason the rate didn’t decline was that while the number of employed increased, so did the labor force by a larger 189,000 people.” The broader unemployment rate includes temporary and part-time workers who would prefer a full-time job, as well as people who want to work but have given up looking for jobs. The president’s policies, which appear to have stifled economic growth, continue to contribute to the dismal jobs outcome.