Unemployment for December 2008

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January 9th, 2009 | 1 Comment

With the release of the unemployment figures for December 2008, the era of the Bush economy can be said to have ended for comparative purposes. BLS link

Here is how the Clinton years stack up against the Bush years.

Average Monthly Unemployment Rates
	ALL	WOMEN	BLACK	HISPANIC
Clinton Term I	6.00%	5.26%	11.33%	9.70%
Clinton Term II	4.41%	3.94%	8.64%	6.77%
Clinton Total	5.20%	4.60%	9.99%	8.23%

Bush Term I	5.51%	4.79%	10.01%	7.19%
Bush Term II	5.03%	4.40%	9.32%	6.12%
Bush Total	5.27%	4.59%	9.66%	6.66%

In the eight years that Bill Clinton was President, the number of civilians employed increased by 14,694,000. In George Bush’s eight years in office that number was 11,199,000.

A bar graph displaying the December unemployment rates for the years 1992, 2000 and 2008, by race and sex.

While unemployment rates remain above any record lows, it is clear that the overall labor market since 1992 has improved for Blacks and Hispanics.

It is also clear that education matters. The December overall unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma is 10.9%. The diploma reduces the rate to 7.7%. Having some college brings it down to 5.6% and having that 4 year degree lowers it to 3.7%