Where have Obama's ill-advised jobs policies taken us? Here's the story -- by the numbers.

JUNE 13, 2011

FROM THE WEBSITE OF THE GOP MAJORITY IN CONGRESS

After more than two years of destructive jobs policies and the constant threat of higher taxes and record deficits, a simple look at our current unemployment data shows that the President’s policies are failing.

• 9.1%:  The unemployment rate for the month of May.

• 28: The number of consecutive months that unemployment has been at or above 8 percent—the level the President said unemployment would never reach if the stimulus passed.

• 19.1%: The rate of underemployment during mid-May according to Gallup’s monthly employment survey.  This accounts for the unemployed, those unable to find full-time work and those discouraged from looking for work.

• 13,914,000: The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of May.

• 44,587,321: The number of Americans receiving food stamps, the highest number of participants in history.

• 39.7: The average number of weeks that job seekers have been unemployed.

• 8,548,000: The number of Americans who are working only part-time because they cannot find full time employment.

• 6,200,000: The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks.

• 2,206,000: The number of unemployed Americans who want work, but who have stopped looking because of the state of the economy.

• 1,231,000: The number of job seekers that are new entrants to the workforce and have yet to find a job.

• 24.2%: The unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19.

• 16.2%: The unemployment rate among African Americans.

• 11.9%: The unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos.

• 14.7%:  The unemployment rate among Americans without high school diplomas.

• 6.8%: The level at which the Obama administration claimed unemployment would be today if the “stimulus” was signed into law.

• 1,908,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed since the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law in February 2009.

• $1,161,000,000,000:  The total cost of the Democrats’ “stimulus.”  CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $814 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion. 

We Can Reverse Course, Create Jobs, and Grow the Economy Now

While the news is gloomy, there is still an opportunity for the nation to change directions.  Republicans in Congress are taking action to create a better environment for job growth immediately and ensure economic growth in the future.

Already the economy is making small gains since Republicans took control of the House.  The modest improvement can be attributed to two factors—the free-market economy is slowly moving toward a recovery from this deep recession, and with Republicans controlling one lever of the lawmaking powers, job creators know the upper limits of the Democrats’ legislative pain is behind them.

While the White House and Senate may refuse to enact our policies, House Republicans’ actions will increase confidence in the private sector by guaranteeing a check on the Democrats’ reckless spending and job-crushing regulations.

http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/