Before you get excited about the drop in the unemployment rate, it’s important to remember: we are still worse off than we were four years ago. Young people are not only worse off than they were four years ago, they’re worse off than they were under both President George W. Bush or President Jimmy Carter.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that youth unemployment dropped one point to 15.2 percent in September. However, we shouldn’t forget what unemployment numbers look like in a normal American economy.
Under Carter, the average youth unemployment rate was 12.9 percent. Under Bush, it averaged 10.2. Under Obama, it’s average 17.5 percent.
The year before President Obama took office, youth unemployment averaged around 12 percent. Now some may say, with September’s unemployment numbers, we are moving in the right direction. Not only is it unfortunate that people are cheering this small budge in the numbers, but also there was once a time when unemployment was at a national low of 5 percent and youth unemployment was under 10.
How were those numbers obtained? A great leader by the name of Ronald Reagan implemented the economic policies needed to spur business and create jobs.
President Reagan inherited an economy plagued with severe inflation and high unemployment from the Carter administration. Rather than pointing fingers for four straight years, Reagan was a leader and implemented the policies–the tough policies–needed to get the economy rolling.
Prior to Reagan, high taxes and loose monetary policy were strangling business and economic growth. Reagan cut taxes across the board by 25 percent and the results were amazing. Approximately 344,900 new jobs were created each month during the Reagan recovery, which lead to the creation of 24,833,000 new net jobs and a significant increase in the labor force.
The beginning of Reagan’s presidency youth unemployment topped off at 18 percent. By the end, it had dropped to 9.9 percent. We have not seen this same leadership from the current President.
President Obama has spent the last 4 years blaming Bush for our poor economy, but Reagan’s leadership example proves this to be hogwash–he did it in four years. Under President Obama we have only seen 6,317,000 net new jobs, or approximately 203,800 jobs per month and a significant decrease in the labor force. This month alone–thought the unemployment rate dropped below 8 percent–there was only 114,000 jobs created in the private sector. Reagan’s recovery blows President Obama’s out of the water.
So while there was a slight upturn in the economy, we will never see Reagan-type years under our current leadership. President Obama’s policies have strangled the economy and job creation at the expense of the prosperity of future generations.
