With increasing signs that the economy is laboring [1], most economists agree that a short-term infusion of spending, or an extension of this year's temporary cut in Social Security taxes, could help fend off a new downturn.
But whatever one thinks of the debt deal -- and most of its billions in cuts won't come for a few years [2] -- there's a near-consensus [3] in Washington against spending increases.
Here's a brief overview of some key stats on where the economy stands.
Annual rate at which the GDP grew this year [4]: 1.3 percent between April and June, 0.4 percent between January and March
Average annual GDP growth from 1998-2007 [5]: 3.02 percent
Total jobs lost since January 2008 [6]: 8.7 million
Total jobs recovered since January 2008 [6]: 1.8 million
Recession technically ended: over 2 years ago [7], in June 2009
Current unemployment rate: 9.2 percent
The "natural unemployment rate [8]:" 5 percent
Months that the unemployment rate has been around 9 percent or more [9]: 28
Number of unemployed people in June 2011 [10]: 14.1 million
Growth in number of unemployed people [10] since March 2011: 545,000
Number of long-term unemployed people [10] in June 2011: 6.3 million, or 44.4 percent of the unemployed
Pace at which jobs were added throughout the late 1990s [11]: 350,00 per month
Jobs that were added in June [10]: 18,000
Jobs the U.S. needs to create to 5 percent unemployment rate [11]: 6.8 million, as of January 2011
Years it will take to get back to an unemployment rate of 5 percent [12]: 4 years if we're adding jobs at 350,000 per month; 11 years if we're adding jobs at the 2005 rate of 210,000 per month
Unemployed workers per job opening [13]: 4.98
Number of people who weren't in the labor force, but wanted work [14], as of June 2011: 2.7 million
The last time that the labor force participation rate was lower than it is now [13]: 1984
The amount of state budget spending that comes from the federal government [15]: about 1/3, or $478 billion in 2010
Increase in before-tax corporate profits [16] in the first quarter of 2011: $140.3 billion
Percentage of Americans' total personal income that comes from federal funds [17]: almost 20 percent
Spending cuts in the proposed budget [18]: at least $2.3 trillion over a decade from 2012-2021
How long you can currently receive unemployment benefits [19]: up to 99 weeks
The number of those weeks funded to some extent by federal aid [19]: up to 73
People currently relying on federal unemployment benefits [19]: 3.8 million
How long you'll be able to receive unemployment benefits [19] if you lose your job after July 1, 2011: 20 to 26 weeks, depending on your state
Recovery-funded jobs reported by recipients [20], according to recovery.gov: 550,621
Amount of stimulus money left to be spent [21]: $122.8 billion of the original $787 billion
Bush's Fault - NOT.
ReplyDeletehope and change at a glance...
ReplyDelete2012 can't come soon enough !!!!
Obama promised "Change" and he has changed America. But will any Republican have guts enough to remind Obama of all of this in a debate? I really doubt it, he or she would be called a "Racist" by the Liberals for attacking the poor "Tar Baby", oops, I mean President.
ReplyDeleteGerald said...
ReplyDeleteObama promised "Change" and he has changed America. But will any Republican have guts enough to remind Obama of all of this in a debate? I really doubt it, he or she would be called a "Racist" by the Liberals for attacking the poor "Tar Baby", oops, I mean President.
And you will be called moron. Oops, I mean moron.