The U.S. Labor Department announced on Friday September 4 that the unemployment rate increased to 9.7% in the month of August. That was up from July's 9.4% and the highest since 1983 when it was over 10%. The economy lost 216,000 jobs in August, down from the 276,000 it lost in July. The August job losses were the fewest in a year.
Chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight said the nation was still on track to hit 10% unemployment before the turnaround. That 10% number was predicted last year by most economists when the economy loss over 4 million jobs. The average job losses for the first two quarters, January thru June was 559,000. So far this quarter, July thru August job losses average 243,000, so job losses are in a downward trend two straight months. The health care industry and educational services actually added 52,000 jobs last month according to the Labor Department. Thats a good sign.
The latest from most economist say the economy is still not up to par but that the recession is over. That is a positive statement. There is no history of a recession turning around over night but it appears the economy is on the mend slowly. Slowly does not describe accurately the plight of those who are unemployed and in need of a job and the noise machine coming from the republicans don't help the situation at all. One should remember the unemployment rate during the Reagan administration hit 10.8% in 1982 and stood at 10% or over for 10 straight months. One should also remember that Reagan did not inherit the economic and financial mess Obama did.
The American people will have adequate time to judge President Obama's performance on the economy when that time comes. The fact of the matter is the American people have enjoyed the best economic conditions under democratic administrations and also the best job creation for the people. It remains to be seen if the Obama administration continues that dominance on the economy. Time will tell. That says it all.
