In January of 2009, when President Obama took office, the unemployment rate was 7.8%. Four years and around $5 trillion dollars in debt later, it's 7.9%. When Obama took office the long-term unemployment (U-6) rate was 14.2%. Today, it's 14.6%.
Obama promised us 5.2%.
And, still, the media celebrates the jobs numbers. If you weren't watching the cable nets, consider yourself lucky. It was nauseating. CNN's Erin Burnett and Soledad O'Brien were practically jumping out of their chairs. Need I even describe MSNBC? Keep in mind that the media collective isn't thrilled because these numbers are good news for millions of everyday Americans who are suffering. The media's celebrating because they think these numbers mean well for one person's job -- Obama's.
In the hours since, we've seen the exact same spin from almost every media outlet, analyst, and host.
What we were not being told, though, is that the only reason the unemployment rate increased a mere 0.1% over the last four years is due to millions giving up looking for work and dropping out of the labor force. If the labor participation rate was the same today as it was when Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be closer to 10.5%.
Still the media celebrates.
Under Obama, the growth of food stamp recipients is 75 times greater than the net number of jobs created since Obama took office.
Still the media celebrates.
The long-term unemployment rose to 40.6% in October.
Still the media celebrates.
The unemployment rate for blacks jumped from 13.4 to 14.3% in October.
Still the media celebrates.
In October, average weekly hours of work, hourly earnings, and weekly earnings, all declined.
Still the media celebrates.
