AUG#: +130,000 jobs.

Unemployment up at 3.7%...AUG jobs under Trump HERE

Monday, November 28, 2011

Please Sign the Petition to Congress to Renew Unemployment Insurance Extensions for 2012!

Please sign the petition to Congress to continue the unemployment insurance extensions that are about to expire:


Extended unemployment benefits are set to run out for millions of unemployed Americans in January and in the first part of 2012. For the past three years, the U.S. has offered up to 99 weeks of unemployment compensation to help individuals who have been laid off through no fault of their own through the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Unless extended unemployment benefits are continued, approximately 6,000,000 long-term unemployed people will lose their benefits within the next few months. These people are those who have been unemployed for at least 26 weeks but have not yet been unemployed for the 99 weeks of unemployment extensions that have been authorized over the last three years. 


Though the country has again started adding jobs, we still have over 6,000,000 long-term unemployed, and another 1,400,000 people are still getting laid off every month. Altogether, we now have 14,000,000 officially unemployed and only 3,400,000 job openings. This does not include the people working part-time who want full-time work and those who want a job but haven't recently looked for work. Another 15,000,000 people fall into those categories.

Unemployment is still a major crisis for this country, and we simply cannot let so many millions of people, most of them hard-working, middle class people, fall into poverty. Also, people who are laid off now or in 2012 will still have a hard time getting work within the 26 weeks that "regular" unemployment benefits provide for. 


The conservatives and some of the Republican presidential candidates oppose this lifeline, somehow thinking that all of these 14,000,000 people will magically find jobs if only they "have to work". The basic arithmetic of 14,000,000 people divided by 3,400,000 job openings eludes these people.


Please sign this petition even if you and your family are not currently unemployed! People are still being laid off at the rate of 400,000 a week!  

.. And you don't have to be a mom to sign!


Sign the Petition HERE!!




Update, Tuesday, November 29:


Here's another petition on the same topic sponsored by the AFL/CIO:


"Speaker John Boehner may be willing to ignore our dire unemployment crisis and cut 6 million of America’s workers off at the knees while he pursues a polarizing anti-worker agenda.

On Wednesday afternoon, we’ll deliver an emergency petition to Congress after a press conference with jobless workers--and we need a massive national show of force to make sure Speaker Boehner and other obstructionists hear us. Please add your name:"




Saturday, November 26, 2011

Job Growth by State for 2011: How Is Your State Doing?

States ranking by Percentage of  Job Growth in 2011 to Date (October)


Job Growth by State for 2011 HERE!


June Jobs Data by State will be Released Friday, July 20th.  Please check back for rankings! 

Below are the rankings of the fifty states based on percentage of job growth for the year 2011 through October.  Only one state, Georgia, experienced a decrease in jobs for the year to date.  The average job growth for the United States in 2011 to date is +1.11% 

I've included the party affiliation of the governors and legislatures of the various states.  See the legend after the data.
(Note:  These numbers are based on the monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Reports.  The BLS reports include month over month and year over year numbers.  Data for my monthly reports is taken from that BLS report copied to a spreadsheet every month.  I will continue to add more reports on state data in the coming days.)
Rank State Governor... Legislature ..% +/- Jobs
1.North DakotaRR +4.34
2.UtahRR+2.76
3.OklahomaRR+2.76
4.LouisianaRM+2.28
5.NebraskaRN+2.01
6.MontanaDR+1.96
7.ArizonaRR+1.89
8.WyomingRR+1.72
9.TexasRR+1.64
9.VermontDD+1.64
11.CaliforniaDD+1.54
12.WashingtonDD+1.55
13.ColoradoDM+1.51
14.Ohio RR+1.48
15.Massachusetts DD+1.42
16.West Virginia DD+1.32
17.MinnesotaDR+1.28
17.Michigan RR+1.28
19.Florida RR+1.27
20.TennesseeRR+1.17
21.Illinois DD+1.15
21.Kentucky DM+1.15
23.New Mexico RD+1.14
24.Hawaii DD +1.12
25.OregonD M+1.11
26.Iowa RM +1.04
27.New YorkDM +0.93
27.Idaho RR+0.93
29.Alaska RM+0.91
30.Pennsylvania RR+0.90
31.Virginia RM+0.88
32.NevadaRD+0.84
33.South Carolina RR+0.66
34.New Jersey RR+0.62
35.New Hampshire DR+0.61
35.Maryland DD+0.61
37.Connecticut D D+0.54
38.KansasRR+0.50
39.MississippiRD+0.47
40.MissouriDR+0.44
41.Maine RR+0.42
41.Alabama RR+0.42
43.Wisconsin RR+0.41
44.South Dakota RR+0.40
45.North CarolinaDR+0.37
46.Arkansas DD+0.24
46.Rhode Island ID+0.24
48.Delaware DD+0.05
49.Indiana RR+0.02
50.Georgia RR-0.62

Legend: 

  • R- Republican 
  • D- Democratic 
  • I-  Independent
  • M- Mixed
  • N- Non-partisan  

Is there any relationship between party in control of a state and the rate of job creation in that state?


Based on the rankings in this report, there does not appear to be any significant correlation between control of the state politically and job growth.  Six states in the top 10 are now completely controlled by Republicans, as are six states in the bottom 10.  21 states are now controlled completely by Republicans.  10 of those states are in the top half of the rankings, and 11 Republican states are in the bottom half.  11 states are now controlled completely by Democrats.  7 of those states are in the top half of the rankings, and 4 of those states are in the bottom half.

Many of the top ranking states are benefiting from a growth in mining, including the leader, North Dakota.  

  

Friday, November 25, 2011

Which States Were Job Winners or Losers in October 2011?

Georgia, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are Turkeys; California, Illinois, North Dakota, Montana, and Florida are Stars. 

Georgia, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have been named Turkeys in job growth/loss for October 2011.

Based on an analysis of the latest Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Report which was released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor, these three states had the lowest job growth (or actual decreases in jobs) in one or more categories, either month over month, over the past three months, 2011 to date, or year over year.

California, Illinois, North Dakota, and Montana have been named Gold Star states for October 2011, each leading the nation in one or more categories of job growth (over the past month, past three months, in 2011, or over the past year.)

According to the same analysis, the US gained approximately 1.1% in jobs since October 2010.
(Note:  The BLS report includes month over month and year over year numbers.  My analysis, taken from BLS data copied to a spreadsheet every month, includes detailed percentage increases/decreases, 3 month numbers, and 2011 to date numbers.  I will provide this data on a state-by-state basis, including rankings in all categories, in the coming days.)

Jobs Performance Month Over Month (September to October 2011):

The best performance (biggest gains) in month over month jobs numbers (September to October 2011):
Gold stars to-
  • Illinois              +30,000
  • California          +25,700 
  • Virginia             +14,000
  • Pennsylvania      +13,800
  • Washington       +11,700 
  • Massachusetts   +10,800
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) in month over month jobs numbers:
October's Turkeys-
  • Wisconsin         -9,700
  • New York          -8,300   
  • Minnesota         -6,100
  • Kansas             -2,600
  • South Carolina   -2,300
The best performance (biggest gains) as a percent of jobs compared to the previous month:
Gold stars to-
  • Delaware             +.98%
  • North Dakota        +.66%
  • Oklahoma            +.58%
  • Illinois                +.53%
  • Washington         +.42%
  • Mississippi           +.41%
  • Montana              +.41%
  • Connecticut          +.40%
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) as a percent of jobs compared to the last month:
The Turkeys are-
  • Wisconsin          -.35%
  • Wyoming           -.34% 
  • Maine                -.27% 
  • Rhode Island      -.26% 
  • Minnesota          -.23% 


Jobs performance over last three months (July to October 2011): 

The best performance (biggest gains) in three-month jobs numbers (July to October 2011):
Gold stars to-
  • California +86,000
  • Florida     +45,200
  • Illinois     +31,600
  • Arizona    +27,200
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) in three-month jobs numbers:
October's Turkeys are-
  • New York    -22,400
  • Wisconsin   -21,200
  • Georgia      -16,300
  • Michigan     -14,400
  • Ohio           -8,300
The best performance (biggest gains) in percent of jobs over the past three months:
Gold stars to-
  • North Dakota  +1.22%
  • Arizona          +1.14%
  • Louisiana       +1.09%
  • Mississippi     +0.95%
  • Nebraska       +0.83%
  • Minnesota      +0.78%
  • Montana        +0.76%
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) in percent of jobs over the past three months:
Turkeys are-
  • Rhode Island   -1.69%
  • Wyoming        -0.92%
  • Wisconsin       -0.77%
  • South Dakota  -0.59%
  • Georgia          -0.43%


Jobs performance in 2011 (December 2010 to October 2011):

The best performance (biggest gains) in job numbers in all of 2011:
Gold stars to-
  • California     +215,800
  • Texas          +171,800
  • Florida         +90,800
  • New York     +79,900
  • Ohio            +74,700
  • Illinois         +64,800
  • Michigan      +57,700
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) in job numbers in all of 2011:
October Turkeys-
  • Georgia            -23,600
  • Delaware          +200
  • Indiana            +500
  • Rhode Island     +1,100
  • South Dakota    +1,600
  • Maine              +2,500
The best performance (biggest gains) as a percent of increase in number of jobs in 2011:
Gold stars to-
  • North Dakota   +4.34%
  • Utah               +2.76%
  • Oklahoma        +2,76%
  • Louisiana         +2.28%
  • Nebraska         +2.01%
  • Montana          +1.96%
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) as a percent of jobs in 2011:
Turkeys are-
  • Georgia         -0.62%
  • Indiana          +0.02%
  • Delaware       +0.05%
  • Rhode Island +0.24%
  • Arkansas       +0.24%


Jobs performance year over year (October 2010 to October 2011):

The best performance (biggest gains) in job numbers year over year:
Gold stars to-
  • California          +239,100
  • Texas               +231,600
  • Florida              +93,900
  • Ohio                 +63,100
  • New York        +61,500
  • Illinois               +60,500
  • Pennsylvania     +54,500
  • Massachusetts  +50,000
The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) in job numbers year over year:
October Turkeys-
  • Georgia          -33,300
  • Indiana           -12,400
  • Arkansas        -1,300
  • Delaware        -200
  • Rhode Island  -200
  • Missouri         +200
The best performance (biggest gains) as a percent of jobs year over year:
Gold stars to-

  • North Dakota   +4.86%
  • Oklahoma        +3.05%
  • Utah                +2.62%
  • Texas              +2.23%
  • Nebraska         +2.00%
  • Montana          +1.94%
  • California         +1.72%
  • Wyoming         +1.72%
  • Vermont          +1.71%

The worst performance (biggest losses and/or smallest gains) as a percent of jobs year over year:
Turkeys to-

  • Georgia         -0.87%
  • Indiana          - 0.44%
  • Arkansas       -0.11%
  • Delaware       -0.05%
  • Rhode Island  -0.04%
  • Missouri         +0.01% 
  • Alabama        +0.20%
  • Wisconsin      +0.22%

October's Biggest Turkeys:
  • Georgia, with 6 turkeys and the largest drop in jobs year over year.
  • Rhode Island, also has 6 turkeys and negative job growth month over month, over 3 months, and year over year.
  • Wisconsin, with 5 turkeys, had the greatest loss of jobs month over month, the second worst loss of jobs over three months, and anemic job growth year over year and year to date.  Particularly troublesome for Wisconsin is its recent drop in job growth, while the nation as a whole showed decent job growth.
  • Indiana, with 4 turkeys, shows a decline in number of jobs both month over month and year over year.
  • Delaware, with 4 turkeys, seems to have picked up recently, but it is still showing a decline year over year.  
  • Other turkeys include:
    • Arkansas, with 3 turkeys.
    • Maine, Missouri, and South Dakota, each with 2 turkeys.   
October's Gold Star States:
  • California, with 5 stars, including healthy year over year job growth.
  • Illinois, also with 5 stars, including the top job growth in October 2011.
  • North Dakota, with 4 stars, including top gains in percentages in all time frames, but because of its size, not huge absolute growth. 
  • Montana, with 4 stars, like North Dakota, has high percentage increases, but moderate absolute growth due to its size.
  • Runner up gold star states include: 
    • Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, each with 3 stars.  It should be noted that, although Texas still shows significant year over year job growth, its overall job growth has fallen off significantly in the last few months. 

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Role of the Government in Capitalism

"Why do you think corporations are sending jobs overseas? Lower costs? Larger margins? Cheaper labor? Less taxes? Less regulations? Unions?"

This series of questions was asked by someone commenting on an article about jobs a few weeks back.  The person posing the questions seemed to be hostile:  He wanted to make sure that people who were complaining about the lack of jobs understood that the problem was all of those regulations, nasty unions, the insistence of the American labor force on fair wages and working conditions.  (Just a touch of sarcasm there.)


I didn't reply to that particular post, but I did copy these questions and thought about them, as these kinds of questions are typical in discussions about the current jobs crisis. 

Do we want to become a Third World country?



After consideration, here's my reply to the series of questions in the first paragraph:

Private/Government Jobs Lost and Gained Month by Month 2011

How many jobs, total, private, and government have been gained (created) or lost month by month in 2011?

Month    Total Jobs   Jobs lost/gained      Private Jobs   Prvt Jobs lost/gained     Gov't Jobs   Govt Jobs lost/gained  
Jan. 130,328+68,000 108,102 +94,000 22,226 -26,000
Feb. 130,563 +235,000 108,363  +261,000 22,200 -26,000
March 130,757 +194,000 108,582  +219,000 22,175 -25,000
April 130,974 +217,000 108,823  +241,000 22,151 -24,000
May 130,999 +25,000 108,896  +73,000 22,103 -48,000
June 131,047 +48,000 108,997  +101,000 22,050 -53,000
July 131,174 +127,000 109,170  +173,000 22,004 -46,000
August 131,278 +104,000 109,242  +72,000 22,036 +32,000
Sept. 131,436 +158,000 109,433  +191,000 22,003 -33,000
Oct. 131,516 +80,000 109,537  +104,000 21,979-24,000

The numbers above represent the latest revisions, which often differ from the preliminary numbers announced by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) on the first Friday of a given month.


A total of 1,256,000 jobs have been ADDED/CREATED in 2011 to date, October 2011.  That is an average of 125,600 new jobs per month this year.  


1,529,000 jobs have been ADDED in the private sector in 2011 to date; that is an average of 153,000 new private-sector jobs per month this year.


273,000 jobs have been LOST in the government sector in 2011 to date; that is an average of 27,000 government sector jobs lost per month this year. 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Jobs Numbers Month by Month 2011


The following numbers reflect jobs gained/lost through October 2011.  Please click the link above for up-to-date numbers. 

How many jobs have been gained (created) or lost month by month in 2011?



Month...... Total Jobs...... Jobs lost/gained
January 130,328 +68,000
February 130,563 +235,000
March 130,757 +194,000
April 130,974 +217,000
May 130,999 +25,000
June 131,047 +48,000
July 131,174 +127,000
August 131,278 +104,000
September 131,436 +158,000
October 131,516 +80,000


The numbers above represent the latest revisions, which often differ from the preliminary numbers announced by the BLS on the first Friday of a given month.


A total of 1,256,000 jobs have been created in 2011 to date, October 2011.  That is an average of 125,600 new jobs per month this year.
          

Friday, November 11, 2011

Who Pays Taxes and How Much?

Tax Foundation Data shows who pays taxes and who doesn't.

The Tax Foundation (which does have a conservative bent) released its analysis of federal income taxes for 2009 a few weeks ago.  It is based on individual tax returns that have been filed which have a positive AGI (Adjusted Gross Income); that is, a positive gross income after adding wages, capital gains, dividends, rent, royalty, and income from businesses, but also subtracting small business losses and investment losses.

Federal income taxes collected from individuals have declined about 22% since 2007.

The total percentage of individual taxes paid as a percentage of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) continued to decline, which is one of the reasons for our increasing budget deficit:  The effective tax rate for individual tax returns is  lower than it has been in decades.  In 2009, the average tax paid was 11.1% of AGI (Table 8, bottom left), in 2008, it was 12.24% of AGI.  In 1980 this number was 15.3%; in the Reagan years, 13 to 14%; in the Clinton years, 13 to 14%, with a peak of 15.26% in 2000.  This number was mostly in the 12% range in the Bush II years.  (again, Table 8, left column).  

The Adjusted Gross Incomes of Americans as a whole went down in 2009, the worst year of the recession, so the Federal government was collecting a lower percent of income from a smaller tax base.  2007 was the recent peak:  We collected 12.68% from a collective Adjusted Gross Income of $8,799,000,000 (That's almost 9 trillion dollars in Adjust Gross Income.)  That comes out to about $1.1 trillion in revenues from individual tax returns.   In 2009, we collected 11.06% from $7,825,000,000 (almost 8 trillion in Adjusted Gross Income.)  That comes out to about  $865 billion in revenues in 2009.  This is a decrease of about 251 billion (about 22%) from the revenue collected 2007.  

How much do the wealthiest among us really pay in income taxes?

Let's look at the various income groups in this report:  First of all, the top income earners among us will complain that they pay much more than their "fair share" in taxes:  The top 1% (family incomes over $343,000 in 2009) earn about 17% of the total income in Adjusted Gross Income in this country, while they pay about 37% of the federal income taxes in total.  Meanwhile, the bottom 50% earn 13.5% and pay only 2.25% of the federal income taxes in total.  It's a good talking point and it sounds as if those top earners are getting socked compared to those bottom-feeding 50%.     

If you take it up to the top 5% it sounds even worse:  The top 5% of filers (family incomes over $155,000 in 2009) earn 32% of the money, while they pay 59% of the taxes!  The bottom 95% of filers pay only 41% of the taxes!  I guess the whole bottom 95% are bottom feeders of some sort.

How much do families really have to live on?

But let's look at what those numbers really mean:  The top 1% of families, with incomes over $343,000, pay an average of 24% in federal income taxes.  That means a family right on the cutoff with an income of $350,000 pays about $84,000 in federal income taxes, leaving them $266,000 in after-federal tax income (not counting FICA, state and local taxes) on which to live.  

A family at the 50% mark, with an income of $33,000, pays somewhere about 6%, or about $2,000 in federal income taxes.  They are left with $31,000 with which to pay FICA, state and local taxes, shelter, food, transportation, utilities.  (A family with two earners working full-time making minimum wage would make just about $33,000.)  

Would you rather live on $31K a year after federal taxes or $266K a year after federal taxes?

Let's be honest, rich guys:  Would you really rather be that $33,000 family paying less than $2000 in federal taxes and trying to pay everything else with $31,000?  Or that top 1% who has a mere $266,000 with which to pay everything else?      

The wealthy do pay federal income taxes at a higher rate than "average earners".

Another important point:  The top income earners do pay federal income taxes, and they do pay a higher rate on average than most "average working" people.  Many people concerned with income inequality believe that the wealthiest among us pay no federal income taxes, which is generally not true.  But, even with an effective tax rate of 24% for the wealthiest compared to 2% for the poorest, the top wage earners have so, so much more income than most of the rest of us.   

Here's the link to the Tax Foundation data, which is based on IRS data.  Read through the report yourself.  Notice the tone of the report, and notice some of the things that aren't said:  1.  The bottom 50% of tax filers are trying to live on $32,000 a year or less.  2.  A family income of $66,000 puts you in the top 25% of families in the US in 2009!  3. Though the concern of the Tax Foundation is taxes and the idea that the wealthiest among us are paying more than their fair share, the most obvious thing about the data that is presented isn't tax inequity-- It's income inequality.  

A Historical Look at Income Inequality


Since 1980:

  • The Adjusted Gross Income of all tax returns increased 225%.  
  • For the top 1%, the AGI increased 549%.  
  • For the top 50%, 241%. 
  • For the bottom 50%, the AGI increased 147%. 


But 2009 was a bad year for the wealthiest among us.  According to the Tax Foundation:  "In 2009, the top 1 percent of tax returns paid 36.7 percent of all federal individual income taxes and earned 16.9 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI), compared to 2008 when those figures were 38.0 percent and 20.0 percent, respectively."  Let's see what a bad year looks like for the wealthy in the US:

In 2009, that "bad" year for the wealthy:

  • The AGI on the average tax return was about $56,710.  
  • The average AGI for those in the top one-tenth of one percent was $4,420,290.  
  • The average AGI for those in the top 1% was $960,869.  
  • The average AGI for those in the top 50% was $98,128.  
  • The average AGI for those in the bottom 50% was $15,291.  
Look at that last number again:  The top 50% of individual income tax returns, with thanks to the top 1%, averaged $98,128.  The bottom 50% of individual tax returns averaged $15,291.  And there are plenty of people out there who don't need to file because they don't have enough income. 


Other tax commentary here: 45% of Filers Pay No Taxes!

Tomorrow I will compare the average tax rates with the average AGI's at various income levels, and we will see if the wealthiest among us are indeed treated unfairly by our tax code.  (Yes, a bit of sarcasm there.) 

Thanks again to the conservative Tax Foundation for putting all of these numbers together and providing a spreadsheet to download.     
           
Notes:  This report is based on individual income tax forms.  It doesn't include people who don't need to file, who are among the oldest and the poorest in our country.  I believe, however, that it does include young people, still dependents on their parents' taxes who work part-time or summer jobs and need to file individual tax returns to get a refund of income taxes paid by their employers.  It also reflects family income in terms of people who are legally allowed to file together (husband and wife, for instance, and a single parent with children).  It doesn't include households who are not legally allowed to file together (unmarried couples living together who share household expenses). The "Adjusted Gross Income" excludes capital losses, carry overs, and other such techniques which allow usually wealthier people to offset or write off some income.  The Adjusted Gross Income does not include many government benefits which allow poorer people to survive.
Therefore, this is not a perfect collection of data, but nonetheless, very useful, particularly for comparative purposes.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Alternate Unemployment Rate Decreases to 18.2% in October

Molly's Alternate Unemployment Rate Falls to 18.2% in October  2011 from 18.4% in September 2011. 


The decrease is due primarily to a 4% decrease in the number of people working part-time who want full-time work.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 374,000 fewer involuntary part-time workers (people working part-time who want full-time work) in October 2011 over September 2011.  This number had been decreasing in the early months of the year; it then rose dramatically for two months, but now has decreased.  It is unclear if this is a trend or an aberration.  We'll have to wait until next month's numbers.  




Last month's analysis seemed to show that most of the new workers entering the labor force in the last few months were working part-time, but this month's data shows a reversal of that pattern, with a lower percentage of the employed work force working involuntarily part-time.  Again, we can't tell if a new pattern has been established or if this is an aberration.   


There has been a decrease of 2.6% in the number of people who "want to work" but have not actively looked for work in the past month.  In September, there were 6,241,000 in this group; now there are 6,403,000 in this group.  As the number of people "not in the labor force" (meaning not working or actively looking) was virtually the same in October as in September, this may mean that there are more people who are ready to enter the labor force: They are again "wanting a job" but haven't yet started actively looking.  That may be a good sign; it may mean that the population as a whole perceives that they can get jobs.  Again, it's unclear whether it is a trend or a monthly aberration. 

Molly's seasonally-adjusted alternate unemployment rate is 18.2% for October 2011. It is down two-tenths (.2%) of a percent from the 18.4% of September 2011.  

29,196,000, about 29 million people, are unemployed and want to work OR underemployed (working part-time and wanting full-time work) in October 2011. This is an decrease of 307,000 people from the 29,503,000 who were unemployed and/or  underemployed in September.

The details of Molly's alternate unemployment rate continue after the jump.

Private & Govt Jobs Lost Gained Under Obama (October update)




The following numbers are those of October 2011.  For current numbers, please click one of the above links.


How many jobs (total, private, and government) have been lost or gained since Obama was inaugurated?  
  • 4,303,000 jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST in TOTAL from the time Obama took office until the "trough" of the recession in early 2010.  That's a decrease of 3.2%. 
  • 2,270,000 jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were CREATED from the "trough" of the recession until now, October 2011.  That's an increase of 1.8%.
  • In total, 2,033,000  jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until now, October 2011.  That's a decrease of 1.5%. 
  • We have experienced 13 months WITHOUT job losses since September 2010.  We have ADDED 1,672,000 jobs during those 13 months. 






How many PRIVATE sector jobs have been lost or gained since Obama was elected?
  • 4,189,000 private-sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until the "trough" of the recession in early 2010.  That's a decrease of 3.8%.
  • 2,765,000 private-sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were GAINED OR CREATED from the "trough" of the recession until now, October, 2011.  That's an increase of 2.6%.
  • In total,1,424,000 private sector jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until now, October 2011.  That's a net decrease of 1.3%. 
  • We have experienced 20 months of positive private-sector job GROWTH from February 2010 until October 2011.  We have added 2,765,000 private-sector jobs during those 20 months.    

How many GOVERNMENT jobs have been lost or gained since Obama was elected?
  • 114,000 government jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until the "trough" of the recession in early 2010.  That's a decrease of  .5%  (half of a percent). 
  • 495,000 government jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the "trough" of the recession until now, October, 2011.  That's a decrease of 2.2%.
  • In total, 609,000 government jobs (in seasonally adjusted numbers) were LOST from the time Obama took office until now, October 2011.  That's a decrease of 2.7%. 
  • We have experienced decreases in the number of government jobs in 16 out of the last 17 months, starting in June 2010, when 2010 Census workers began to be laid off.  
(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 current monthly Employment Situation Report.  Historical numbers are taken from various archived Employment Situation reports as indexed HERE.  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.  Specifics will be provided upon request; please email me or leave a comment.)