Sometimes a clear side by side visual says more than a million written words ever could. Such a visual has been made available from Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, who publishes a comparison chart which shows the numbers before Obama and after Obama. These are things Barack Obama "conveniently omitted from his SOTU speech."
America Before President Obama Took Office and Now
|
| Before | Now | Change |
| Number of Unemployed1 | 12.0 Million | 13.1 Million | +9% |
| Long-Term Unemployed2 | 2.7 Million | 5.6 Million | +107% |
| Unemployment Rate3 | 7.8% | 8.5% | +9% |
| “High Unemployment” States4 | 22 | 43 | +95% |
| Misery Index5 | 7.83 | 11.46 | +46% |
| Price of Gas6 | $1.85 | $3.39 | +83% |
| “Typical” Monthly Family Food Cost7 | $974 | $1,013 | +4% |
| Median Value of Single-Family Home8 | $196,600 | $169,100 | -14% |
| Rate of Mortgage Delinquencies9 | 6.62% | 10.23% | +55% |
| U.S. National Debt10 | $10.6 Trillion | $15.2 Trillion | +43% |
1 Number of unemployed in January 2009 and December 2011. http://www.bls.gov/data/#unemployment.
2 “Long-term unemployed” means for over 26 weeks; data for January 2009 and December 2011. http://www.bls.gov/data/#unemployment.
3 Unemployment rates in January 2009 and December 2011. http://www.bls.gov/data/#unemployment.
4 “High unemployment” means having a 3-month average unemployment rate of 6% or higher. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “Extended Benefits Trigger Notice” for January 18, 2009 and January 22, 2012. http://www.ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/trigger/2009/trig_011809.html and http://ows.doleta.gov/unemploy/euc_trigger/2012/euc_012212.html.
5 The “Misery Index” equals unemployment plus inflation. For January 2009 and December 2012. http://www.miseryindex.us/indexbymonth.asp.
6 Average retail price per gallon, January 2009 week 3 and January 2012 week 4. http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=EMM_EPMR_PTE_NUS_DPG&f=W.
7 U.S. Department of Agriculture, values represent monthly “moderate” cost per family of four for January 2009 and November 2011. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm.
8 U.S. median sales price of existing single-family homes for metropolitan areas for 2008 and 2011 Q3. http://www.realtor.org/research/research/metroprice.
9 Residential mortgage delinquencies (real estate loans) for 2008 Q4 and 2011 Q3. http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/chargeoff/default.htm.
10 Values for January 21, 2009 and January 23, 2012. http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np.
H/T Joel B. Pollak, via BG.
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