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Unemployment Numbers

So, what happened today. Unemployment ticked down from 8.1% to 7.8%, U-6 continued unchanged month-over-month at 14.7%, and some of the survey numbers actually were astonishingly high. Key points to note is that 7.8% is below the unemployment rate of the first month of the Obama administration, 2.2% below the peak, that U-6 number is .5% higher than when he got into office, and 2.5% below the peak.

The Republicans and business leaders who argue against the current administration appeared to react like this…

…followed by this.

The Republicans ran about like chickens with their heads cut off calling conspiracy theories about these numbers being manipulated, with a fair amount of the media reacting like this…

…and, as one would expect, Democrats reacted a bit like this.

Are the numbers great? No. Workforce participation actually ticked up a tenth of a point this last month, but is still down 2.1% from when the administration went into office.

Is the economy improving? Yes. It largely, largely depends upon where you are in the country. Locally in Seattle, I can’t help but notice how much building is happening here. In my own school, it appears that they are having better luck getting students jobs post-graduation, so that’s a bit of good direct news as well.

Maybe this is what a true recovery in the 21st century looks like, especially after a sharp reset.