What Was the Unemployment Rate When Obama Took Office? (November 2011 update)

What was the unemployment rate when Bush left office and Obama took office?  7.7%

How high did it go?  10.1% 

What is today's (November's) unemployment rate?   8.6%

How many people were looking for work when Obama was inaugurated, how many were working?  And how many people are looking for work and how many are employed now?   Keep reading!

Information about jobs numbers, unemployment rate past and present indexed HERE!

The following numbers are as of November 2011.  For current numbers, please click the link above!

• The Unemployment Rate: What does it measure? Where did it come from?

The Unemployment Rate when Obama took office:

• For the record, when Obama took office in January 2009, the "official" unemployment rate in seasonally adjusted numbers was 7.7%, with 11,919,000 people reporting themselves as unemployed and actively looking.  142,221,000 people were working in January 2009. 
• In "raw" numbers not adjusted for seasonal variance, the unemployment rate was 8.5% with 13,009,000 people reporting themselves as unemployed and actively looking for work.  140,436,000 people were working in numbers not adjusted for seasonal variance.

The Unemployment Rate at its Peak: 

• At the "trough" (bottom in terms of jobs) of the recession in late 2009/early 2010, the "official" unemployment rate in seasonally adjusted numbers climbed to 10.1% in October 2009 with 15,612,000 people (out of a labor force of 153,854,000) reporting themselves as unemployed.   138,242,000 were working in October 2009; however, the lowest number of people working was reported in December 2009, when 137,792,000 people (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were working.    
• In "raw" numbers not adjusted for seasonal variance, the unemployment rate reached a peak of 10.6% in January 2010 with 16,147,000 (out of a labor force of 152,957,000) reporting themselves as unemployed and actively looking for work.  Only 136,809,000 were working (in "raw" unadjusted numbers) in January 2010.

The Unemployment Rate Now:

• Now, in November 2011, the "official" unemployment rate in seasonally adjusted numbers is at 8.6%, with 13,303,000 (out of a labor force of 153,883,000) unemployed and actively looking for work.  140,580,000 people are working now.  (Last month 140,302,000 were working.  This is an increase of 278,000 people working.) 

• In unadjusted "raw" numbers the unemployment rate is now 8.2%, a decline of .3% (three-tenths of a percent) since October.  In "raw" real numbers, 12,613,000 (out of a labor force of 153,683,000) are unemployed and actively looking for work.  141,070,000 are working now in "raw" numbers unadjusted for seasonal variation.  (This is an increase of 83,000 people working.)

To Summarize the Unemployment Rate Now Compared to When Obama Took Office:

• Using seasonally adjusted numbers, the unemployment rate was 7.7% (and rising quickly) when Obama took office, and it is 8.6% today.   11,919,000 were officially unemployed back then, and 13,303,000 are unemployed today.  
• Using nonseasonally adjusted numbers, the unemployment rate was already 8.5% when Obama took office, and it is 8.2% today.   13,009,000 were officially unemployed back then, and 12,613,000 are officially unemployed now. 

(Note:  All of my employment number reports are based on monthly reports and data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Monthly numbers reports are based on the monthly Employment Situation Report.  The Employment Situation report includes month over month and year over year jobs numbers.  My analysis is taken from the monthly BLS data copied to an Excel spreadsheet every month.  I calculate detailed percentage increases/decreases, 3 month numbers, 2011 to date numbers, and I compare jobs numbers to those at the time of Obama's inauguration and at the "trough" of the recession.)