Obama Administration job claims

America's North Shore Journal » American Economy, Analysis, Original writing, Reporting, Unemployment » Obama Administration job claims

Star of Hope is a nondenominational Christian organization that equips children across the world with knowledge, physical well-being, spiritual growth and social skills through educational programs and local and international partnerships. Please donate!

July 24th, 2010 | Comments Off

	January 2009	June 2010	Change
Employed	142,221,000	139,119,000	-3,102,000	LOSS

Total Unemployed	12,653,000	15,830,000	3,177,000	INCREASE
Unemployed	11,919,000	14,623,000	2,704,000	INCREASE
Discouraged	734,000	1,207,000	473,000	INCREASE

True unemployment rate	8.90%	11.38%		INCREASE

Participation rate	65.70%	64.70%	-1.00%	DROP

Employment/Population ratio	60.60%	58.50%	-2.10%	DROP

The White House and its allies have been touting the claims contained in the Council of Economic Advisers’ latest quarterly report that

the Recovery Act is already responsible for 2.5 to 3.6 million – or about 3 million – jobs

The table above was created using the data from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. These are the government’s own numbers, used by their agencies and a wide variety of private businesses for planning and decision making.

The number of Americans employed has decreased by over 3.1 million since the Obama administration took office. True unemployment, the total unemployed and the total discouraged from looking for work, has increased over the same time frame by nearly 3.2 million Americans.

U.S. employment levels, 2009-2010, BLS data. Click for a larger image.

Numbers of Americans unemployed 2009-2010, BLS data. Click for a larger image

True unemployment includes those unemployed and looking for work and those no longer looking, the discouraged. The true unemployment rate on January 31, 2009 was 8.9%. As of June 30, 2010 it was 11.38%.

Americans no longer looking for work 2009-2010, discouraged, BLS data. click for a larger image.

When the Obama Administration took office, 65.7% of the population participated in the work force. That rate is now 64.7%. In January 2009, 60.6% of the population was working and that rate is now 58.5%.

U.S. civilian labor force participation 2009-2010, BLS graph. Click for a larger image.

U.S. employment to population ratio, BLS. graph. Click for a larger image.

For the White House claims to be correct, either the BLS data is wrong, or the Recovery Act prevented unemployment from reaching a level of 6 million Americans. The data clearly demonstrates that about 3 million fewer Americans are no longer working.