This looks familiar … vaguely familiar.
The unemployment rate was 7.8 percent when President Savior took the reins from George W. Bush in 2009. Obama even promised that failing to improve the economy would make him a one-term president.
Well, this is what economic progress looks like: The December labor numbers are out and the unemployment rate is … wait for it … 7.8 percent as the president prepares for his second inauguration.
Second verse, same as the first.
7.8% unemployment and +2% more in Payroll taxes? It’s a Hawaiian Christmas Miracle!
— Tony Katz (@tonykatz) January 4, 2013
BREAKING: The Lamest Recovery Ever continued in December.
— Matt Exotic (@MattCover) January 4, 2013
So the economy is continuing along in the same death crawl it's been in for years?
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) January 4, 2013
Welcome to the new normal. #doingfine
— Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) January 4, 2013
Remember when Dems were compalining about 350K jobs/month when Bush was President? Now they dance when McDonald's hires 2000…
— WUHAN!!! I Got You All In Check! (@Pqlyur1) January 4, 2013
http://twitter.com/CuffyMeh/statuses/287192961605836801
And if there’s anything the Obama administration knows about, it’s Biden’s favorite three-letter word: J-O-B-S.
As always, Jim Pethokoukis breaks down the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers:
Labor force participation rate stayed steady at 63.6%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
U-6 rate stayed steady at 14.4%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
Progress? In 2012, employment growth averaged 153,000 per month, the same as the
average monthly gain for 2011.— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
The change in total nonfarm payrolls for October was revised from +138,000 to +137,000; November was revised from +146,000 to +161,000.
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.1 percent, basically flat in real terms
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
But let’s compare apples to apples.
10.7%: What the unemployment rate would be if labor force participation was the same as when Obama took office
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
8.4%: What the unemployment rate would be if labor force participation was the same as December 2011
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
Share of labor force unemployed for 27 weeks or longer drops below 40% for first time since Nov. 2009. 39.1%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
10.3%: Unemployment rate if using labor force partic. rate for 2012 forecasted by CBO in 2008. Assumes aging population
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
BTW, that 14.4% U-6 rate is still 6 pct. pts above its pre-Great Recession levels
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
At 155,000 jobs a months, US would not return to pre-Great Recession employment levels until after 2025
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
Sheesh. Can’t we just mint a trillion new jobs or something?
Update:
More analysis from Jim Pethokoukis here:
Dismal December jobs report shows a lost year for U.S. workers http://t.co/vJGlVoa6
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
And for the record, BLS was pretty darn close to rounding that unemployment number up to 7.9 percent.
Not to be picky, but the unrounded official December unemployment was 7.849%
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) January 4, 2013
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