How Obama's Jobs Record Stacks Up
President Obama's first jobs report in February of 2009 showed that 598,000 jobs had been lost in January and unemployment was 7.8%. His final jobs report, which came out on Friday, Jan 6, 2017 showed 156,000 jobs added in December and an unemployment rate of 4.7%. When compared with other recent presidents, his job growth numbers are weaker than Reagan and Clinton, but stronger than Bushes. President Obama tied President Clinton with a 3.1% drop in unemployment over eight years, the best record since WWII. Labor force participation rate among men ages 25-54 dropped as has been the case under many other presidents in recent decades. Perhaps where Obama gets the most credit is for guiding the U.S. out of the Great Recession and handing a low unemployment rate to President-elect Trump.
1. Looking at his jobs data in the article, how would you evaluate President Obama's economic record?
2. Why do you think the labor force participation rate continues dropping for 25-54 year old men?
3. Do you see the economy continuing to improve under President Trump, holding steady, or declining? Why?
I think president Obama was successful when looking at his economic record. Dropping the unemployment rate by 3.1% is a tough job, and only one president has done that in the last 70 years.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that President Obama had the most success dealing with his economic record. Although he wasn't successful in all its aspects, he still did well and made Trump's job a bit easier. However, I'm not confident that Trump can help improve the economy in the next few years.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the statistics in the article, it seems that Obama was successful in improving the economic record. lowering the unemployment rate results in a stronger economy. I think the labor force participation is dropping for this age group because there is a large amount of people in this age group looking for jobs. I see the unemployment rate decreasing in Trump's presidency because his ethics in the Trump industry supports monopoly.
ReplyDeleteI think President Obama was successful because he got our country out of the Great Recession. Though his unemployment progress was not as much as other presidents, he has been a good president who has made good progress. I feel that Trump's experience in business will hopefully help him in terms of his economic policies when he is president.
ReplyDeleteI think that president Obama was successful when looking at his economic record. He did well in dropping the unemployment rate by 3.1% which is no easy task and was not done for seventy years.
ReplyDeleteOne needs to go beyond looking at basic unemployment facts to evaluate an economy. One of the biggest indicators that the unemployment rate drop under Obama is not all that it seems is because the labor participation, in real terms, has been going down. Unemployment measures those which are loosing jobs but cannot find them. Some may just stop all together, thus pushing those numbers down when in fact real unemployment may be up.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't approve of Trump's immigration or healthcare policies or his ethics at all, I reluctantly admit that because he's a successful businessman, he will probably improve the economy even more than Obama has. Trump knows what it takes to run a business and therefore, he has great knowledge in economics in that regard.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't approve of Trump's immigration or healthcare policies or his ethics at all, I reluctantly admit that because he's a successful businessman, he will probably improve the economy even more than Obama has. Trump knows what it takes to run a business and therefore, he has great knowledge in economics in that regard.
ReplyDeleteWow President Obama is really one of the greatest Presidents of all time per se. He did some of this economics stuff and saved America from becoming North Korea--Genius! Obviously the labor force is declining in men ages 24-52 because no one wants to actually get up and do work. Everyone just wants to get to the office do the classic 9-5 and go to sleep. I think Trump will make America China again.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama did a good job with the economy, however i think trump may do better due to his goal of expanding companies powers. For better or worse the larger companies become the more jobs there will be.
ReplyDeleteI believe President Obama was successful in raising the amount of jobs the USA had. But, I believe with Trump as our new president there will not be as many jobs. However, I also think, since Trump wants more company and businesses to rise this will help to create more jobs.
ReplyDeleteI think that participation in the labor force for men ages 25-54 continues to drop because there is an increasing amount of jobs being created in the technology and more modern industries that do not constitute labor positions. As professions in technology become more popular, this participation rate will continue to go down.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama's presidency was one of the most beneficial for our economy. He raised the amount of jobs and made healthcare more accessible. I feel that Trump may spend recklessly and put our country into a larger debt. Although Trump may appear to have beneficial ideas, they may end up hurting our country economically.
ReplyDeleteAs stated above by Tomislav, this look at Obama's economic record is too basic and does not reveal the whole picture of what his presidency has been. As for Trump's presidency I do believe the economy will begin to rise once again. He is a successful business man and non-politician which we have never seen in our past presidents. I do believe this will help our economy and hurt us in other ways.
ReplyDeleteI think just based on unemployment records that Obama did a good job at decreasing the unemployment rate, but to get the whole look at his economic plan we would need to look beyond the unemployment records. However, I think it was a hard task to do, but Obama got us out of the Great Recession and that was not an easy task to do, so obviously his economic plan was successful.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Obama was successful in decreasing the unemployment rate in our country. I think the labor force participation is dropping in those age groups because a lot of those people are just starting out their lives and looking for a job/deciding what they want to do as a career.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the drop in unemployment that happened during his presidency, his economic plan has clearly been somewhat beneficial and successful. I'm not sure what the future holds for our economy, but hopefully with Trump's experience as a businessman, our economy will improve.
ReplyDeleteI think people under appreciate Obama. He has been consistently successful in getting Americans jobs and really only has put the country back on track. Only time will tell what Trump does to those tracks.
ReplyDeleteObama showed us that his economic plan truly worked as he lowered the unemployment rate and made more jobs in America. Obviously Obama did pretty good in this case, but who knows what Trump will bring with his new presidency.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say President Obama did an amazing job compared to the other presidents, but he also didn't do bad. Obama tried his best and at least made some progress in unemployment. The labor force has been dropping because more people are not motivated as much to do work. I believe that Trump as president will slowly improve the economy since he is a businessman who knows how to make the right decisions economy wise.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama made a very big impact on the economy because he became President when the economy was at a very low point and was able to rebuild it. I think Trump will continue to keep unemployment rate low as long as he sticks to his words about making sure companies don't outsource their workers.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Obama's effect on the economy was positive because he healed the economy from the Great Rescission very much. I don't think Trump is going to be an easy president to predict what will happen
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama made a very big impact on the economy. When he became President we were at a very low point with our economy, so it's good to see what changed then vs now. I hope, and believe, that Trump will continue with even more success in the future.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama was very successful with dealing with his economic record and has made a positive impact on our economy; I think that Trump will hopefully keep if not improve how our economy is now but it is hard to predict what will happen with our president-elect
ReplyDeleteObama did what he said he would, he lowered the unemployment rate and brought more jobs to the US. Trump is a business man so I'm interested to see what happens to the economy after he is in office.
ReplyDeleteObama was a popular and successful president because he helped the unemployment rate. When trump comes into office, I'm not sure how he will affect the unemployment rate, but I think he will certainly help the economy. He is very capitalistic, so even though he might neglect some other responsibilities as President, he will focus on the economy.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama was successful based on his economic record. Obama did well by dropping the unemployment rate and this could slowly continue to drop more in the future. I could see the economy continuing to improve under Trump because he is a businessman who often deals with money.
ReplyDeleteI believe Obama was successful in increasing the amount of jobs and dropping the unemployment rate. Hopefully, Trump will be able to follow in Obama's footsteps and continue to increase the amount of jobs and drop the unemployment rate.
ReplyDeleteLooking at president obamas record he had success and he made a difference to the US i think men from 24-25 keeps dropping bc these are the men that don't have jobs. Well we've all seen Trump in his worst times but he can change in the new presidency we will all see what happens.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the data Obama has done a very good job at increasing the job amount in his terms. Although with Trump, truly all we can do is hope that he will continue the work and progress Obama has done
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the facts, it appears that during the election, many of the Trump supporters on the Internet/new media had constructed a misconception of Obama's overall performance as a president in order to attract voters. The argument that Obama managed the economy badly and that we should entrust Trump, a businessman, to do it properly is not relevant at all.
ReplyDeleteI would say that he is not the best at it but it is good enough. I believe that the labor force participation report has dropped because we are all just lazy. I believe that he will try to bring up the economy and it will work but there will be a lot of consequences to his actions that will affect a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteI think he did his very best I mean the percentage went down a good amount.I think it percentage drops more now because maybe because the labor is to hard for them or their not that much in shape so can not do much labor. I´m not sure if the economy will improve when Trump is president.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama was successful in approving the economic record by lowering the rate of unemployment. I believe that our economically, our country will benefit from Trump being a businessman and knowing how to spend money.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama did not surpass Reagan or Clinton, but he still helped the country and decreased unemployment. I think that the economy has the possibility of improving if Trump focuses his efforts to add more jobs.
ReplyDeleteThe drop in unemployment during Obama's presidency was very significant. He reduced unemployment by about 40%, which is a very large amount. Obama did very well with the economic crisis that was handed to him from Bush's presidency, and hopefully Trump will follow in his footsteps and continue to improve the economy. Trump should be familiar with the economy so it is possible that he could bring a lot of benefit.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama was successful in the economic record because he did drop the unemployment rate 3.1%. I believe Trump's experience of being a businessmen will hopefully help add more jobs.
ReplyDeleteObama was indeed more successful than both of the Bush presidents. I think that Mr. Trump will be able to bring more jobs in because he has the experience in that field.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama's work with the unemployed was one of his best accomplishments when he was president and this help the US economy as well
ReplyDeleteObama dealing with unemployment was a great accomplishment he achieved and helped the US bounce back from when Bush was president. I also feel like Trump will also create more jobs because he has experience in the business force and will also help the economy
ReplyDeleteObama did a good job lowering the unemployment rate. Like what Bobby said, I feel that Trump should be able to keep that up since he is a businessmen.
ReplyDeleteI think that unemployment is a great issue in our country and looking at Obama's presidency he did a good job of attempting to fix this problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone as well that it was great for Obama to work with the unemployed and to consider many people.
ReplyDeleteThe labor force improvement is due to an expanding economy. President Obama inherited the country during the time of recession. Improving on the very low numbers of post recession country is not such a great achievement. President Obama generated the biggest debt in the history of the United States. That is too high of a price to pay for the improvement of the economy and will continue impacting economy growth for many years to come. A lot of well paying jobs were off shored with very low possibility of coming back to the United States. This is the primary reason why president elect Trump was elected. I believe that under President Trump and his policies related to moving jobs off shore will give a greater boost to the economy than president Obama could provide under current policies.
ReplyDeleteI think that he saved the economy. When he took office, the economy was in the worst situation, however, throughout the years of his presidency, the unemployment rate has decreased. I think that labor force participation rates is dropping because, according to writers and economists, the men are either in school, on disability. in prison, or taking care of their children and helping their spouses. I hope the economy will do better under Trump, but am not sure now what will happen.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama has significantly helped the economy by dropping unemployment rates. The economy was not in the best position when he took office, but he was able to help the US recover a significant amount after the recession. I am not sure what to expect with Trump as a president. Trump has proved himself to not stick to everything he promises, so he could cause some significant changes to the economy. However, since he is an experienced business man with an understanding of the market, I am sure he will do his best to help the economy thrive during his presidency.
ReplyDeleteI think that based on the job data, Obama did a good job on improving the economy. Although he may have not done as good as some past presidents, he did the best he could. I think the labor force participation in 25-54 year old men is decreasing because of the rise in technology and people would rather work in an office. With Trump's business experience and wanting to bring jobs back to America, I think it is possible for him to improve the economy.
ReplyDeleteObama being able to reduce the unemployment rate was a great accomplishment that shows his efforts have helped reverse Bush's long lasting damage on the economy. I agree with Brittany that the drop in unemployment rate for men aged 25-54 may be largely due to technological advancement and staying in school or going back to school. I dont have a lot of confidence in Trump as he is notorious for driving his businesses into the ground and filing bankruptcies.
ReplyDeleteObama has done a well informed job on reducing the unemployment rate. Judging how successful Trump has done in the business industry, he will continue creating more job opportunities to unemployed Americans
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ReplyDeleteBased on the data, I believe that Obama did a good job. He may have not done the best, but he's definitely not the worst. The unemployment rate did decrease a fair amount, but that always means more room for improvement. The labor force participation rate may have dropped due to the increased use of technology in the work force within the past years. I do believe that there's a chance that our economy will improve while Trump is President because he is a business man. However we'll never know until we see it happen.
ReplyDeleteI believe the economy will improve phenomenally for Trump will be motivated to make our nations economy one of the best in the world. He will do this with his knowledge of how to strategically handle money, and with a good start that Obama has provided for him will make his chances of making the economy better more likely to happen.
ReplyDeleteObama did a good job on the unemployment rate. Trump may not be president everyone was hoping for. However, he is a good business man and I hope that he can create more job opportunity
ReplyDeletepresident obama has had overall success in combatting unemployment, but a major complaint regarding his record is that it was not successful everywhere, such as in the rust belt, where his economic policies were seen to have failed by the populations living there. He had success overall in the country, but not success throughout the country.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama has started us out very successfully in lowering the unemployment rate. I also think the one thing Trump is good at is opening up more jobs for people. I think Trump will continue to lower the unemployment rate and that is what America needs.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama's decrease in unemployment rate really had helped the people and new president because it is a great start off to his new campaign and hopefully he can do the same as Obama. Under Trump I honestly think that he will not do what Obama has done,but I know he would not just ignore it so I think he will somewhat do good but not terrific
ReplyDeleteLooking at the records, Obama has done a outstanding job of decreasing the unemployment rate. Under President Trump i think the economy will stay steady, because he is more of a business man than a politician, so in the economic mind i feel like he will be better in the economies sake.
ReplyDeleteObama has done an amazing job of decreasing the unemployment rate. I do think that Trump will keep the system stable and maybe even add more jobs
ReplyDeleteObama has done a really good job in decreasing the unemployment rate because one may think it is easy to decrease it, but it really isn't because there is certain requirements for each job. I strongly believe that Trump will not continue this great decreasing of unemployment.
ReplyDeleteI think Trump will continue to lower the unemployment rate and that is what America needs. Although Trump may appear to have beneficial ideas, they may end up hurting our country economically.
ReplyDeleteObama has definitely done a well job in decreasing the unemployment rate and since Trump is a business man I believe he will continue to make this number decrease
ReplyDeleteBased on Obama's years of presidency it has been very successful. There are a lot of people in that age group that try to find drops that is why it is difficult at times for people 25- 54. I believe that trump will not be able to do as great as Obama did because I think he believes that money can solve everything where it really can't.
ReplyDeleteUpon looking at Obama's presidency records he has done a great job to decrease the percentage of unemployment. 3.1 percent may not seem like much but when you think about how big the country is it is a big impact.
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama did a good job during his terms as president. His best accomplishment was definitely lowering the unemployment rate. Overall Obama's economic record was a success.
ReplyDeleteI agree that President Obama did a great job handling unemployment rates and he had a very successful presidency.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama made a very big impact on the economy. I think that Trump will continue with even more success in the future.
ReplyDeleteI believe that President Obama was successful economically. I also think that the employment rate for 25-50 year old men is that unemployment plans are very set now a days.
ReplyDeleteI agree with quinn and hayden that obama did a great job as president and I personally feel that most of Obama's success was over looked over the 8 years.
ReplyDeleteI believe that obama was successful in bringing down the unemployment rate. In regards to the second question I wouldn't know how the economy will turn out.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Obama was successful in reducing the unemployment rate. I believe that on the surface Trumps ideas on creating jobs seem helpful, but that most people at the lower end of the spectrum will not receive enough money and or benefits. I believe that with his view of economics, the lower and middle class will not be benefited in any way, and in fact may be hurt in the process.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the drop in unemployment that happened during his presidency, his economic plan has clearly been somewhat beneficial and successful. I'm not sure what the future holds for our economy, but hopefully with Trump's experience as a businessman, our economy will improve.
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