I'll bookmark that second link, interesting stuff. Threw away the front page of the Murky and don't have an online account, so I can't readily see the other article you mention.
Statistics are fun, aren't they? The raw numbers are less useful than percentages in revealing the significance of the data. It's incomplete to say that there are 1.4 million more jobs now; the revealing number is the participation rate because it's adjusted for population:
(That image may be transient and purged from the server. I created it by going to the page in your last link, selecting seasonally-adjusted Labor Force Participation Rate, and requesting a graph on the page of raw data.)
The vertical axis is truncated, so the span is about 2%. Sounds like a small amount until you realize that it represents about three million people fewer who are employed today in the Bush Trough, compared to the Clinton Peak (sorry, couldn't resist, but that is what the data shows).
This one's interesting too:
(Same stats, time period set back to start at 1965)
It would appear that Dubya has the singular distinction of being the President who's single-handedly managed to reverse 40 years of steadily increasing employment in America.
OK, your turn to massage the numbers now...
Current Events » in reply to Interesting.
Fun with data
The whole thread (22 posts)
- Oh, yeah. Almost forgot. Unemployment rate down to 4.9 percent. (n/t)
- Lame
- re: Oh, yeah. totally forgot. Numbers on poverty level set new record. or is this not to be mentioned? (n/t)