Fun with Real Audio and Unemployment Numbers

This administration has screwed up this economy so badly. 

Just look at these unemployment numbers...

Feb ’01: 4.2%     Jan ’04: 5.7%     Difference: +1.5%
Feb ’09: 8.3%     Jan ’12: 8.3%     Difference: 0.0%

Hmm ... 

Lots of people are saying how bad it is but those number don't match that reality. That many people can't possibly be wrong? … 

Wait, maybe you can’t really judge starting from the first month of an administration. Yeah, there are inbound trends and left over policies from the last administration that are still in effect. So by picking that range I've made an unfair comparison.

These numbers should shed some light on what’s really going on...

June ’01: 4.5%    Jan ’04: 5.7%    Difference: +1.2%
June ’09: 9.5%    Jan ’12: 8.3%    Difference: -1.2%

Well … 

Um … 

That’s even more off… 

Oh yeah that’s not really fair either because the ’01 recession didn't end until December 2001 whereas the ’07-’09 recession ended in June 2009. 

So this is where the numbers are going to start matching the narrative...

Dec ’01: 5.6%    June ’04: 5.6%    Difference: 0.0%
June ’09: 9.5%    Jan ’12: 8.3%     Difference: -1.2%

Really?...

Now we’re back to where we started but that still can’t be right. … 

I know what's going on here. It's all those government jobs this administration has created through tax and spend polices.

Let's take a look at public-sector employment (in thousands)...
Dec ’01: 21,355 June ’04: 21,601 Difference: +246
June ’09: 22,557 Jan ’12: 21,973 Difference: -584

Wait...
What?...

How is that possible?

Ok, I've got it figured out now. So many more people have dropped out of the official unemployment statistics because they've been out of the workforce too long or are working part-time. 

Now, looking at the broader unemployment/underemployment figures is definitely where the dystopian reality that we are living through is going to be born out...

Dec ’01: 10.2%    June ’04: 10.3%    Difference: 0.1%
June ’09: 18.1%    Jan ’12: 16.4%     Difference: -1.7%

Newman!...
It certainly must be the case that it took 30 months for these trends to show up as positive and I'm sure that earlier comparisons would have shown that it took this administration far too long.
                     '01 Recession    '07-'09 Recession
12 Mos Diff:       +0.4%                   +0.2%
18 Mos Diff:       +0.9%                   +0.1%
24 Mos Diff:       +0.4%                   -0.6%
30 Mos Diff:       +0.1%                   -1.7%

Ok, I give up.

So either 

• The last guy was really bad and I have blacked it out. 

OR

• This guy hasn't done as bad of a job as what I've been hearing.  

Or maybe, and I know this is a reach...

• Presidents get too much credit when short term trends are good and too much blame when they are bad. 
• Neither administration has done a particularly terrible job or a particularly great one. 
• The difference between stimulus that is 2 part tax cuts to 1 part spending vs. stimulus that is 2 parts spending to 1 part tax cuts is not the same as the difference between “let them eat cake” laissez faire capitalism and “have to stand in lines for bread” communism.

Nah, that’s just crazy talk.

Statistics courtesy of http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/srgate (Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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