Unemployment rate for first 4 years by president

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,352
11
0
So I took the data that could be found on the BLS page here

Then took their first full month in office, Feb after they were inaugurated, and graphed the change in unemployment over the first 48 months in office. Anything above y-axis value 0 means the unemployment rate went up and below means it went down.

unemploymentrate_historical_by_president.png


As you can see, both Bushes were higher, Clinton was the best performer, Reagan was on par with Carter, and Obama is right behind both of them.

:D
 

umbrella39

Lifer
Jun 11, 2004
13,819
1,126
126
Damn you and your silly colored thingies there. They are liars. Those orange dots all look mooslim to me. Deport.
 
Jan 25, 2011
16,586
8,662
146
Hey now. I thought it was about the average unemployment under Bush those eight years (yeah I know that's just the first 4). Your pretty colors imply some bigger picture at work.

Communist.
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
So I took the data that could be found on the BLS page here

Then took their first full month in office, Feb after they were inaugurated, and graphed the change in unemployment over the first 48 months in office. Anything above y-axis value 0 means the unemployment rate went up and below means it went down.

unemploymentrate_historical_by_president.png


As you can see, both Bushes were higher, Clinton was the best performer, Reagan was on par with Carter, and Obama is right behind both of them.

:D

You don't provide what the starting rates were for each. For example, it's a lot easier to move the numbers down a percentage or two when you're starting from a higher base, or vice versa.
 

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2000
9,949
569
136
You don't provide what the starting rates were for each. For example, it's a lot easier to move the numbers down a percentage or two when you're starting from a higher base, or vice versa.

What math are you using? The % is based off the population not the current percent unemployed. The number of jobs that needs to be created from to go from 2% to 1% is the EXACT same as 13% to 12%.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,606
166
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
That certainly makes it look better, but I think it takes more than just 1 month for any policies, etc., to have any effect. Change it to 6 months, and Obama's looks great compared to the others.
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
What math are you using? The % is based off the population not the current percent unemployed. The number of jobs that needs to be created from to go from 2% to 1% is the EXACT same as 13% to 12%.

The graph is showing the change unemployment rate over time during their first term, so starting point is a reasonable thing to ask. A 1% change (up or down) from a 10% starting base is fundamentally different than a 1% change if the starting rate was 2%, because obviously the starting economic conditions were far different. Creating jobs when you're in a recession is a lot different than in you're in a boom.

Anyway, here are the rates from month of first inauguration for each President to the next inauguration (regardless of whether they were re-elected). In other words, their inauguration day (January 20th after the election day) until the same month four years from then, or until current for Obama.

President / Unemployment Rate at Inauguration / Unemployment rate after 4 years / months used

Carter: 7.5 / 7.5 (Jan 1977-Jan 1981)
Reagan: 7.5 / 7.3 (Jan 1981-Jan 1985)
GHWB: 5.4 / 7.3 (Jan 1989-Jan 1993)
Clinton: 7.3 / 5.3 (Jan 1993-Jan 1997)
Dubya: 4.2 / 5.3 (Jan 2001-Jan 2005)
Obama 7.8 / 8.1 (Jan 2009-Aug 2012)
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
The graph is showing the change unemployment rate over time during their first term, so starting point is a reasonable thing to ask. A 1% change (up or down) from a 10% starting base is fundamentally different than a 1% change if the starting rate was 2%, because obviously the starting economic conditions were far different. Creating jobs when you're in a recession is a lot different than in you're in a boom.

It's also important to understand the reasons behind an employment decline and the severity of the trend. Here's what Obama walked into-

payroll-employment-jan-01-through-feb-12.png


This isn't your father's recession, at all, because the causes are completely different, causes we haven't seen since 1929.
 

a777pilot

Diamond Member
Apr 26, 2011
4,261
21
81
Driving while looking in the rear view mirror.

This nation is in deep trouble and obama has no idea how to get it solved. Then again, I really don't think he wants it solved. I believe that obama wants the USA to be put in its place......i.e., knocked down a couple of pegs.
 
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
66
91
Driving while looking in the rear view mirror.

This nation is in deep trouble and obama has no idea how to get it solved. Then again, I really don't think he wants it solved. I believe that obama wants the USA to be put in its place......i.e., knocked down a couple of pegs.

I think this is absurd hyperbole, but in any event I guess we'll see soon enough, because your party has chosen such a poor candidate that I expect President Obama will be re-elected without much difficulty.
 

SheHateMe

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2012
7,251
20
81
Driving while looking in the rear view mirror.

This nation is in deep trouble and obama has no idea how to get it solved. Then again, I really don't think he wants it solved. I believe that obama wants the USA to be put in its place......i.e., knocked down a couple of pegs.

Do you have any evidence to substantiate your wild claims?
 

lotus503

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2005
6,502
1
76
Leave it to republicans to pour gas all over it light a match and then yell fire.

Plenty of things to be pissed at Obama for, republicans pick the stupidest shit.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,560
2
0
Driving while looking in the rear view mirror.

This nation is in deep trouble and obama has no idea how to get it solved. Then again, I really don't think he wants it solved. I believe that obama wants the USA to be put in its place......i.e., knocked down a couple of pegs.

Of course you believe that, because Obama is the antichrist to you... like GWB was the antichrist to the extreme left. You're no better than they are.
 

diesbudt

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2012
3,393
0
0
Leave it to republicans to pour gas all over it light a match and then yell fire.

Plenty of things to be pissed at Obama for, republicans pick the stupidest shit.

Leave it to democrats to call out all republicans for a few single peoples responses.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
33,381
7,444
136
So I took the data that could be found on the BLS page here

Then took their first full month in office, Feb after they were inaugurated, and graphed the change in unemployment over the first 48 months in office. Anything above y-axis value 0 means the unemployment rate went up and below means it went down.

As you can see, both Bushes were higher, Clinton was the best performer, Reagan was on par with Carter, and Obama is right behind both of them.

:D

The official government unemployment rate, which improves as people drop out of the work force...

You're crowing about that?
 
Nov 30, 2006
15,456
389
121
The federal government is a magic wand that can create jobs as easily and quickly as the Mint creates money. Everybody knows this.
Obama could have done a hell of a lot more to help small businesses and promote a stable business environment....but he had other priorities.

Do you want to talk about the abject failure of his $787B stimulus package (Porkulus I)?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576544500632493510.html

Or do you want to talk about his attempt to double-down on his Porkulus I failure ala American Jobs Act (Porkulus II)?
http://taxfoundation.org/article/academic-research-suggests-american-jobs-act-will-produce-few-jobs

http://www.openmarket.org/2011/09/12/obamas-job-creation-proposal-will-be-ineffective-critics-say/

Or perhaps, you want to talk about how effective "his" Jobs Act was. He called it a "game-changer"...what a laugh.

http://emergingcorruption.com/2011/09/incompetence-obama-even-loses-the-name-of-his-jobs-bill/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577325883892874036.html

Tell me, what has he done to significantly affect real job creation?
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,560
2
0
Obama could have done a hell of a lot more to help small businesses and promote a stable business environment....but he had other priorities.

Do you want to talk about the abject failure of his $787B stimulus package (Porkulus I)?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904716604576544500632493510.html

Or do you want to talk about his attempt to double-down on his Porkulus I failure ala American Jobs Act (Porkulus II)?
http://taxfoundation.org/article/academic-research-suggests-american-jobs-act-will-produce-few-jobs

http://www.openmarket.org/2011/09/12/obamas-job-creation-proposal-will-be-ineffective-critics-say/

Or perhaps, you want to talk about how effective "his" Jobs Act was. He called it a "game-changer"...what a laugh.

http://emergingcorruption.com/2011/09/incompetence-obama-even-loses-the-name-of-his-jobs-bill/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577325883892874036.html

Tell me, what has he done to significantly affect real job creation?

Nothing... because there is very little the federal government can do to create or help create jobs. If you didn't indict other presidents for their lackluster performance on job creation, don't start doing so with Obama.

Government doesn't create jobs, businesses do. All the incentives and promotion in the world won't force businesses to start hiring and expanding. There's nothing to prevent them from simply extracting more work out of their existing employees... which is what they've been doing, for the most part.

The only thing that truly drives business expansion/hiring is consumer demand and consumer spending... and there's very little the federal government can do to increase consumer demand/spending, too.
 
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Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
There quite a big difference between a President's job creation when unemployment is 8% vs 4%.