The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s Morning in America again:
Unemployment fell in every state and the nation’s capital last year—something that hadn’t happened since 1984.
The broad decline, revealed in a Labor Department report Wednesday, offers the latest sign the labor market recovery kicked into a higher gear in 2014. The declines varied broadly.
Unemployment fell the most in Illinois, where the rate dropped 2 percentage points from the prior year to an average 7.1%. The rate declined by 1.8 points in Colorado, North Carolina and Ohio.
North Dakota, at the center of the nation’s energy boom of the past few years, had the lowest jobless rate of any state at 2.8% last year.
Unemployment across the entire U.S. fell 1.2 points to 6.2% last year.
The verdict is in on Kenyan Socialism, and it appears to work pretty damn well.
The stock market is so hot that it just corrected a bit on fears that the Fed will ease up on the cheap money.
Or, as the New York Daily News puts it:
You would think a Reagan Republican has occupied the White House for the last four-plus years, considering how fat and happy stock market investors and corporate America have grown.
And, stating the obvious:
Mitt Romney could scarcely have achieved better results had he been President and set out to minister to the needs of CEOs. Hurray — the Dow has doubled since hitting bottom in 2009, a couple of months into Barack Obama’s first term.
Meanwhile, Jared Bernstein explains that while wage growth is still anemic, people’s increased purchasing power is being driven by even weaker inflation and an increase in weekly hours.
As we know, the linchpin of Kenyan Socialism is Obamacare, which was supposed to blow up the deficit leading to Weimar-level inflation and to kill the 40 hour workweek.
We’ve gone a solid year now, adding at least 200,000 jobs a month every month. In February, we added almost 300,000 jobs.
I know you will find things to complain about. Those things will not be what the Republicans predicted you would complain about. Most of the things you will complain about are things that the Republicans prevented the Kenyan Socialist from addressing. The rest are things Republican governors like Scott Walker did that caused their states to dramatically underperform their neighbors.
So, stop grumping and admit it.
Whether you’re a Wall Street executive or an out of work schlub, Kenyan Socialism rocks.
and all those progressives who piled on Obama from day 1, declaring that he was dooming the country, can all go pound sand too. worst teammates EVER.
Well, you may think you’re one of my teammates, and on my team, but what if I don’t agree? What if I don’t consider you one of my teammates? Or on my team?
Huh? Huh?
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, look for the GOP to grab all of the credit~
Because, after all, the House has been R since 1/11, and the Senate since 1/15 – ain’t it amazin’ now quickly they fixed the economy?!?!?!?!?! 😉
Just as important to remember now as it was when Obama walked through the doors of the White House, he was dealt a crashed and crashing economy, 2 wars unpaid for and a Rep party hell bent on obstruction. So Kenyan socialism hasn’t just worked. It’s repaired. Those who point to the jobs created by Reagan and how Obama’s admin isn’t coming close handily forget to factor that in.
A McCain presidency, with his clear lack of an economic skill set followed by Palin would likely have given us a recovery looking more like Greece…if we were lucky.
When Reagan was President we had a Congress that cared about Country before Party. Reagan expanded government by 1.4 million jobs (Federal and State). G. W. Bush did the same.
When Obama became President, the Republicans went nuts and cut employment everywhere possible yielding a net loss of public sector jobs of around 700,000.
So in JUST the public sector, there is a difference of nearly 2 million jobs. If governments had retained those employees and hired a few more the economy would be dramatically ahead of even the excellent numbers we have today.
The delightful follow to your very important point here is that the eviscerations of public sector Unions in an additional half-dozen States during the Obama Administration will help see to it that public sector employment will continue to stagnate or shrink.
The millions of public sector workers in the U.S. now have less disposable income and less retirement security because of these stupid, misguided attacks. They will forevermore have less discretionary income, hurting their ability to contribute to the free market economy. We will also have to supplement more of them before and during their retirements with our tax dollars, since more of them will need social insurance supports. Many public sector workers are ineligible for Social Security benefits, so they’ll need more SNAP and other benefits to make up for their reduced pensions and other retiree benefits.
Or we may just let them suffer and die in the street. The hell with those government parasites, amirite?
Comments at Murdoch Street Daily are amusing. They’re furious that the unemployment stats don’t include those who have left the labor force. Point taken, but then, Affordable Care is hardly destroying the economy now is it?
Meh — halfway through his second term and the means of production, distribution and finance still not in hands of workers.
I mean, surely after six years that’s more or less the minimum program we have a right to expect from any popularly elected president from the Democratic party.
Hell, he hasn’t even expropriated one little piece of it, the health insurance industry. Or repealed Taft-Hartley.
When I left the voting booth in 2008 I said to myself “Now that’s done. We’ve got our Bush. It’s our turn. Time to start breaking shit, and shit. Roll out the executive orders. Fire up the signing statements.”
I mean, was that unreasonable or something?
Heh. You never disappoint.
well said