The Speaker of the House’s office posted the graph below, showing just how far we’ve come. It’s taken two years, but it looks like things are finally stabilizing.
In January, the economy shed 20,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the unemployment rate fell by 0.3% percentage points, to 10%. Considering that a year ago, the economy had shed 779,000 jobs, we are making excellent progress. The usual caveats apply — it’s going to take a long time to dig out of this recession, etc. — but it looks like a real recovery is beginning, and hopefully within the next few months, we will start adding some jobs.
As a point of interest, this is a very poorly done graph. The Y-axis label is “Jobs Lost,” but then the numbers when there were lost jobs are in the negative, making it look like more jobs have been lost under the Obama administration. With all due respect to Pelosi, perhaps she should hire a sixth-grade math student to look at the charts her office is releasing before they hit the blogosphere.
Jeff, I think it is good news that we are losing less jobs. However the lower unemployment rate is as a result of changes in statistical definitions of the population.
Economic cycle.
The impact of Presidential action on this cycle impacts it very slightly. Perhaps extends or shortens it by a month or two. That is it.
The impact of Presidential action on this cycle impacts it very slightly. Perhaps extends or shortens it by a month or two. That is it.
No surer sign the economy is improving. Republicans tools declaring the Democratic President has nothing to do with the economy.
Don’t forget when DtM stops bloviating about unemployment being the REAL indicator of a turnaround.
“The impact of Presidential action on this cycle impacts it very slightly. Perhaps extends or shortens it by a month or two. That is it”
I’m curious- what do you think would have happened to the credit market had government not intervened? Do you think banks would somehow have continued extending credit when they were so heavily involved in securites that they could not clearly value and hence could not be certain they held enough collateral for borrowing? Do you disbelieve people who say intervention was needed to prevent the credit market from freezing? Finally, do you believe a totally frozen credit market would have had only a minimal impact on the economy?
I would expect nothing less than a comment like that, Richard. The fact is that you can go back to my posts in the late summer of 2008, when the severity of the recession emerged, when we didn’t know if McCain or Obama would be President (it was within just a few points at that time).
I said something to the effect of regardless of who wins, this recession will run its course of a year or two, and the sitting President will be able to take credit for it. I was making the case that from a re-election standpoint, it was actually a great time to win the Presidency. No recession was going to last 4 years, and you could claim credit for pulling us out of it.
If I’m an Obama advisor, that is my sole campaign message in 2012.
What an amazing command of the obvious you demonstrate, DtM. It will be known to history as the Great Bush recession and the Obama recovery.
You have inquired, in the past when it stops being Bush’s economy and starts being Obama’s. Of course, at the time, you were inquiring for the purposes of denigrating Obama and his efforts. Now that those efforts are baring fruit, Presidents don’t really have that much to do with the economic performance. If it wasn’t so predictable, it would be funny. What’s next, Presidents don’t have anything to do with the last Red Bull division coming home?
Simple. You only hear what you want to hear.
Many economists see danger signs ahead. Not in 2010, but in 2011.
I don’t get it CMan, the vast majority of Climatologists maintain Global Climate Change is real and human activity is the primary cause and you poo poo that but when three economics professors say there might be some rough spots ahead, you freak out. Explain that to me please.
He only hears what he wants to hear.
Wow, DtM. You actually go back and look up your posts from 6 months ago?
Somebody’s got too much time on their hands.
I hope that we’re on the right path.
I think it’s very foolish to proclaim there is a recovery at this stage. The likelihood of a second credit crisis is quite large and we are nowhere near absorbing the number of new (young) workers coming into the workforce.
The situation remains severe at best. President Obama did a great job of underscoring the seriousness of the situation in the State of the Union Address. I have little doubt that, once the denial has been flushed from our rhetoric, this will be referred to as a Depression (roughly the fifth such event in US History). The use of the term “Great Recession” shows the problem in the popular press - they know it’s bad, but will do nearly anything to avoid the “D Word”.
The percent of the unemployed who have been without work for more than 15 weeks remains at 58%. Most of them do not count in the “headline” U2 that is what is trumpeted here. We have a long way to go before we have reason to be optimistic.
“Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?”
Reminds me of the old Stalinist device of proclaiming marvelous statistical progress no matter what was really happening. People are still out of work; new jobs are paying less and less, if you can get them, and the sense of crisis has not vanished among the working people even if it has abated among a few deluded pundits. And is it another stock market slide happening even as the Speaker squeaks? Aside from their own personal employment, the public at large responds only to the Dow-Jones average as an economic indicator.
“Reminds me of the old Stalinist device of proclaiming marvelous statistical progress no matter what was really happening.” Yeah. Whip out the ol’ “communist/socialist/fascist!!!” nonsense. Real intelligent.
I’m sorry it doesn’t remind you of what is clearly a mixed bag of economic indicators, some positive and some negative. I’m sorry because that’s reality, yet you can’t recognize it as such.