HTML5 APPLICATION ENGINEERING NOTES

Subject: US unemployment rate.

November 16,2011

According to the CBS News/New York Times Poll. Oct. 19-24, 2011 the most important problem facing the country today is the economy and jobs.
That made me wonder...what do our 2012 Presidential candidates think?

Candidates talk about unemployment
Michele Bachmann	Republican	If we took away the minimum wage ........ we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely. (Minimum wage was passed in 1938 when the unemployment rate was 19%. OOPS!)
Herman Cain	Republican	If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself.
Newt Gingrich	Republican	the American people create jobs, not government.
Jon Huntsman	Republican	It's no surprise that people aren't hiring, there's no ability to predict where we're going.
Gary Johnson	Republican	Get rid of it (corporate income tax) and you would have an explosion of hiring. (Corporate tax rate was 16% when the unemployment rate was 19%, today its 35% and 9% unemployment. OOPS!)
Ron Paul	Republican	Just go out and talk to the people - unemployment rate in the true numbers (is) over 20%.
Rick Perry	Republican	I, for one, do not believe the people who got us into this mess can get us out of it. (In George W. Bush's last 12 months in office the unemployment rate skyrocketed from 5.0% to 7.8%. OOPS!)
Mitt Romney	Republican	I should tell my story, I’m also unemployed. (Net worth 202 million. OOPS!)
Rick Santorum	Republican	The federal government kills jobs.
Barack Obama	Democratic	We underestimated how severe the job losses were going to be.

Some candidates claim there are easy solutions, some claim that the numbers are wrong, and some claim that the government can't do anything about it. No wonder people are confused.
Only one statement is factual, the last one.  So I decided to just look at some factual history of the unemployment rate.  No speculation, no econometric modelling, just raw data.
As a registered Republican I was surprised to find that the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression occurred during the  Reagan administration 10.8%  (see below).

The unemployment rate is a serious issue for the average American and should not become simply a talking point for politicians seeking office.  
These facts do not prove cause and effect but it does help us look at results rather than rhetoric and as the old adage goes "results count".  In the table below is a summary of the results.
This data and its obvious implications should remind us that for a democracy to work the people must remain vigilant, search out the facts and not be swayed by the rhetoric of those with political agendas.

US unemployment rate at end of term 1948-2011
President	Date	Date	Party	Rate	Change
Harry S. Truman	April 12 1945	January 20 1953	Democratic	2.9%
Dwight D. Eisenhower	January 20 1953	January 20 1961	Republican	6.6%	Increase 128%
John F. Kennedy	January 20 1961	November 22 1963	Democratic
Lyndon B. Johnson	November 22 1963	January 20 1969	Democratic	3.4%	Decrease 48%
Richard Nixon	January 20 1969	August 9 1974	Republican
Gerald Ford	August 9 1974	January 20 1977	Republican	7.5%	Increase 121%
Jimmy Carter	January 20 1977	January 20 1981	Democratic	7.5%	No Change
Ronald Reagan	January 20 1981	January 20 1989	Republican
George H. W. Bush	January 20 1989	January 20 1993	Republican	7.3%	Decrease 3%
Bill Clinton	January 20 1993	January 20 2001	Democratic	4.2%	Decrease 58%
George W. Bush	January 20 2001	January 20 2009	Republican	7.8%	Increase 86%
Barack Obama	January 20 2009	January 20 2013	Democratic	?	?

HTML5 Application - Reader Comments

	HTML5 Application - Your Comment
Name:
Email:
Country (select):
Comment:

HTML5 APPLICATION ENGINEERING NOTES

Subject: US unemployment rate.

HTML5 Application - Reader Comments

HTML5 Application - Your Comment