Pic Of The Moment: Not Bad

[Jim Lane]

21. Technical quibble with caption

The numbers do not show that "private sector job growth has increased for the 63rd straight month...."

The number of jobs has increased (that's what job growth means), but for job growth to increase, the vertical bars would have to be getting higher each month. Instead, the red dotted line shows that job growth has been essentially flat for several years.

You can see the difference if you look at 2008-09. Under Bush, we were not only losing jobs every month, but the job shrinkage was increasing. That is, each month saw a greater loss than the previous month. If 2008 were on the graph, the red dotted line would be moving downward. You can see that in the full graph found at the first link.)

The stimulus couldn't immediately turn job shrinkage into job growth, but it did turn the tide. The shrinkage became less each month before turning into job growth. The red dotted line turned upward.

The stimulus, however, wasn't big enough. It should have been bigger initially or followed by a second installment. Because it wasn't, the recovery has been weaker than it could have been, as the red dotted line leveled off.