Jim Cramer: We Need 'Targeted Stimulus'

In case you missed it, let's go over the jobs report from Friday.

U.S. companies added to their ranks in August, pushing the unemployment rate below 10% for the first time since the pandemic began, though the economy is still out some 11.4 million jobs since March.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 1.371 million last month, down from a revised 1.763 million new positions in July but below analysts' forecasts of 1.4 million, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% from 10.2% last month, better than analysts' forecasts of a drop to 9.2%.

Over on Capitol Hill, Senators returned to Washington and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate would vote on a stimulus plan that was much skinnier and scaled-back.

According to the New York Times, The plan is expected to reinstate unemployment benefits at $300 a week, which is lower than the $600 a week that expired back at the end of July, and would allocate around $105 billion for schools, testing funds and the Postal Service.

But, according to Politico’s Jake Sherman, the Democrats are rejecting the bill. In a statement from Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the two said that the proposal is “laden with poison pills Republicans know Democrats would never support.”

Jim Cramer weighs in on whether or not the U.S. needs more stimulus.

You can follow Jim Cramer and Katherine Ross on Twitter at @JimCramer and @byKatherineRoss. Read more from Katherine Ross here.