The Record on the Economy

Some quick finds on the economy of the United States:

Nationally, 3 Million Jobs Lost; Unemployment Rate Up 39 Percent. The national unemployment rate in December 2003 was 5.7 percent, up from 4.1 percent when Bush took office in January 2001 and a 39 percent increase. Nationally, the economy has lost nearly 3 million private sector jobs under Bush. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov]

Nationally, Workers’ Wages and Salaries Are Stagnant. In the third quarter of 2003, America's gross domestic product surged at a rate of 8.2 percent and corporate profits grew at an annual rate above 40 percent. But during this same period, wages and salaries grew by less than 1 percent. Furthermore, in the six months that ended in November 2003, income from wages rose just 0.65 percent after inflation. [Department of Commerce, 12/23/03; New York Times, 12/31/03; Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), 1/2/04]

Bush Proposed to Eliminate Overtime for 8 Million Workers. Bush proposed regulations that would end eligibility for overtime pay—a critical source of income—for 8 million workers by reclassifying them as managers, administrative workers or professional employees. In addition, Bush's Department of Labor issued advice to companies in its explanation of the proposal on strategies to avoid paying overtime. Among these were cutting workers' base pay to subtract extra overtime pay costs and cutting workers' hours to strictly enforce a 40 hour work week. The non-partisan Economic Policy Institute called the proposal “pure special-interest politics with complete disregard for the democratic process.” [Akron Beacon -Journal, 12/5/03; EPI, 7/03, www.epi.org; New York Times, 7/1/03; AP, 1/6/04]


The manufacturing industry has lost 2,472,000 jobs nationwide since Bush took office in January 2001. Employment for this key sector of the American economy is at its lowest level since October 1958. Of the nearly 3 million private sector jobs lost under Bush, manufacturing losses account for 86 percent. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov]
George W. Bush: Record of Failure on the Economy

The Numbers Tell the Story of Failure
• Three Million: Since George W. Bush took office, America has lost 3 million jobs.
• Every Month: Manufacturing jobs have been lost every single month of the Bush Presidency.
• Eight Million Deficits: Even in the 26 months since the recession ended -- a period where under typical recovery circumstances we would have created over 7 million jobs -- we lost one million jobs. That’s an eight million jobs deficit.
• One Million: One million jobs have been outsourced since President Bush took office.
• 50 Percent Higher: Health care costs have increased 50 percent since 2001 when Bush took office.
• 33 Percent Higher: Unemployment has increased 33 percent since Bush took office.
• $10,368: American families will pay $10,368 in interest on the debt by 2014.
• 68,853: The increase in number of Americans in Florida who are unemployed since George W. Bush took office.
• 56,000: Number of manufacturing jobs lost in Florida since Bush took office.