Enough already about the recent, “great news” on the newly durable Obama recovery.
Do you want to know why the unemployment rate just dropped to 6.3 percent, but only 28 percent of Americans believe the country is going in the right direction?
I have assembled one chart – with data taken directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)comparing the jobs’ numbers for the Reagan presidency with those of the Obama presidency. You are welcome to go to the site yourself and see the data just as I have reproduced it here.
No text, no twists, no magic asterisks.
Just the numbers that explain the problem is vivid detail.
|
Year |
Civilian |
Civilian labor force |
Not |
|||||
|
Number |
Percent |
Employed |
Unemployed |
|||||
|
Number |
Percent |
Number |
Percent |
|||||
| 1981 |
170,130 |
108,670 |
63.9 |
100,397 |
59.0 |
8,273 |
7.6 |
61,460 |
| 1982 |
172,271 |
110,204 |
64.0 |
99,526 |
57.8 |
10,678 |
9.7 |
62,067 |
| 1983 |
174,215 |
111,550 |
64.0 |
100,834 |
57.9 |
10,717 |
9.6 |
62,665 |
| 1984 |
176,383 |
113,544 |
64.4 |
105,005 |
59.5 |
8,539 |
7.5 |
62,839 |
| 1985 |
178,206 |
115,461 |
64.8 |
107,150 |
60.1 |
8,312 |
7.2 |
62,744 |
| 1986 |
180,587 |
117,834 |
65.3 |
109,597 |
60.7 |
8,237 |
7.0 |
62,752 |
| 1987 |
182,753 |
119,865 |
65.6 |
112,440 |
61.5 |
7,425 |
6.2 |
62,888 |
| 1988 |
184,613 |
121,669 |
65.9 |
114,968 |
62.3 |
6,701 |
5.5 |
62,944 |
| 1989 |
186,393 |
123,869 |
66.5 |
117,342 |
63.0 |
6,528 |
5.3 |
62,523 |
|
+16,263 |
+15,199 |
+2.6 |
+16,945 |
+4.0 |
-1,745 |
-2.3 (-4.4 off peak) |
+1,063 |
|
| 2009 |
235,801 |
154,142 |
65.4 |
139,877 |
59.3 |
14,265 |
9.3 |
81,659 |
| 2010 |
237,830 |
153,889 |
64.7 |
139,064 |
58.5 |
14,825 |
9.6 |
83,941 |
| 2011 |
239,618 |
153,617 |
64.1 |
139,869 |
58.4 |
13,747 |
8.9 |
86,001 |
| 2012 |
243,284 |
154,975 |
63.7 |
142,469 |
58.6 |
12,506 |
8.1 |
88,310 |
| 2013 |
245,679 |
155,389 |
63.2 |
143,929 |
58.6 |
11,460 |
7.4 |
90,290 |
| 2014 | ||||||||
| Jan |
246,915 |
155,460 |
63.0 |
145,224 |
58.8 |
10,236 |
6.6 |
91,455 |
| Feb |
247,085 |
155,724 |
63.0 |
145,266 |
58.8 |
10,459 |
6.7 |
91,361 |
| March |
247,258 |
156,227 |
63.2 |
145,742 |
58.9 |
10,486 |
6.7 |
91,030 |
| April |
247,439 |
155,421 |
62.8 |
145,669 |
58.9 |
9,753 |
6.3 |
92,018 |
|
+11,638 |
+1,279 |
-2.6 |
+5,782 |
-0.4 |
-4,512 |
-3.0 |
+10,359 |
|
FACT: between 1981 and 1989, Ronald Reagan’s economic recovery created nearly 17 million new jobs.
FACT: between 1981 and 1989, the non-institutional civilian population increased by 16 million people. 94 percent of those citizens became part of the labor force, expanding the labor pool.
FACT: between 1981 and 1989, the percentage of Americans with a job jumped from 59 percent to 63 percent, a new record.
FACT: the 5.3 percent unemployment rate in 1989, 4.4 percent off the recession highs of 1982, was the lowest rate recorded in nearly two decades (1970).
——————————————-
FACT: since 2009, the non-institutional civilian population has increased by 11.6 million. However, just 10 percent of those citizens have entered the labor force.
FACT: since 2009 the economy has created 5.7 million new jobs. However, adjusted for population, the pool of Americans with jobs has actually dropped. At this point in the Reagan presidency, the economy had created 62 percent more jobs that the Obama economy (9.2 million 1986).
FACT: since 2009, the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 10.4 million, to 91 million. The record for largest number of Americans not in the labor force is held by the Obama administration for 2013 and 2014 – more than 30 months after the Great Recession ended.
The current jobs picture is many things. A sign of a robust American economic recovery is not one of them.