The Labor Department reported job losses of 524,000 in December and a 7.2 percent unemployment rate, the highest in 16 years. There were job losses in every month in 2008, with 2.6 million jobs loss, making it the single worst year of nominal job losses in over 60 years (since 1945). The media wants to compare what is happening to 1945; however, that is an entirely different ballpark.
In 1945, we are a nation of 132 million people; we have over 300 million today. Total employment in 1945 was about 39 million, while total employment in December 2008 was 138 million Americans. The difference between the 2.6 million jobs lost in 1945 and that of 2008 is that what happened in 1945 represents a 6.2% increase in unemployment, while what happened in 2008 represents only a 1.9% increase.
However, unemployment was over 10% in the early 1980s, with over 10 million people unemployed (much worse than now). We fixed that problem with a Conservative Republican President (Ronald Reagan) who cut taxes across the board to increase capital for reinvestment in innovative solutions and research and development. Just the opposite of what Barack Obama’s proposal is through raising taxes and massive work projects.
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