November 4, 2011

After more than two and a half years of the Obama Administration’s destructive policies—including record spending, uncontrolled debt, the constant threat of higher taxes, and excessive regulations—unemployment remains staggeringly high and is showing no signs of getting better. Today’s labor report reiterates two sad facts that Americans already know: the economic recovery has stalled and President Obama’s economic policies have failed.

9%: The unemployment rate for the month of October. 28 out of the last 30 months have seen unemployment at 9 percent or higher. From March 2009 (the month after the failed $1.2 trillion “stimulus” was signed) through October 2011, unemployment has averaged 9.4 percent. Prior to President Obama taking office, unemployment had not been above 9 percent in 28 years.

33: The number of consecutive months the unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent—the level the president said unemployment would never reach if the “stimulus” was approved. Prior to the enactment of the “stimulus,” unemployment had not been above 8 percent for this long since the Great Depression.

13,897,000: The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of October. The number of unemployed eclipsed 13 million for the first time in history two months after President Obama took office and has remained above 13 million for 30 straight months.
39.4: The average number of weeks it takes for job seekers to find a job—the fifth longest average time that Americans have been unemployed since the statistic was first recorded in 1948.
8,896,000: The number of Americans who worked only part-time in October because they could not find full time employment. The number of people working part time for economic reasons reached 8 million for the first time in history in February 2009, the month the “stimulus” was enacted, and has remained above 8 million for 33 consecutive months.

5,876,000: The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks in the month of October. Since President Obama took office in January 2009, the number of people unemployed for more than 27 weeks has increased by 139 percent.

2,047,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed from February 2009—when the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law—through October 2011. On average, the economy has lost 62,030 jobs each month over that span.
15.1%: The official poverty rate in 2010 according to the Census Bureau—up from 14.3 percent in 2009. This was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate and the highest poverty rate since 1993.
46,200,000: In 2010, 46.2 million Americans were in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009—the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty. The number of Americans in poverty in 2010 is the largest number in the 52 years in which poverty estimates have been published by the Census Bureau.
-$3,378: Inflation adjusted median household income dropped by -$3,378 per U.S. family, falling to its lowest level since 1996. Household income has fallen by 6.4 percent since 2007.

45,837,824: The number of Americans receiving food stamps as of August 2011, the most in any month in history. Today, 15 percent of Americans receive food stamps, an increase of 40 percent since President Obama took office.

1.7%: The annual GDP growth rate the Office of Management and Budget now expects for 2011, according the Mid-Session Review of the president’s budget. GDP growth expectations are down a full percentage point from an expected 2.7 percent growth rate when the president’s budget was first released in February 2011.
13^th: Where the U.S. ranks in ease of starting a business in the world according to a World Bank report. In 2007, the U.S. ranked 3^rd.

1,293,000: The number of job seekers that are new to the workforce and have yet to find a job. The number of new workers who cannot find a job has been above 1 million for two years.

24.1%: The unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19. Youth unemployment has been above 24 percent for 28 months, the longest streak since the Great Depression.

15.1%: The unemployment rate among African Americans in October, up 23 percent since President Obama took office.

11.4%: The unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos, an increase of 15 percent since President Obama took office.

13.8%: The unemployment rate among Americans without high school diplomas, an increase of 15 percent since President Obama took office.

6.5%: The level at which the Obama administration claimed unemployment would be today if the “stimulus” was signed into law.

$1,172,000,000,000: The total cost of the Democrats’ “stimulus.” CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $825 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion.

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The House Republican Conference Policy Office

October Unemployment by the Numbers

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