GOP Policies Suck at Creating Jobs

There are over 500,000 American jobs that existed at the beginning of 2008 that don't exist now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 80,000 jobs were lost in August. In 2008 there has not been a month that has not seen a loss of jobs.

According to the BLS, the unemployment rate hit 6.1% in August, the highest unemployment rate in five years. According to the BLS report, dated September 5, 2008, all sectors of the economy showed a loss of jobs. This means that the unemployment is spreading out from the sectors that started reporting job losses earlier this year such as construction and financial services.

The Republicans have controlled the White House for the last 92 months. During that time, 34 months have seen job losses. During the first 92 months of the Clinton Administration, there were only five months that saw job losses.

The graph below shows the number of jobs created or lost in one month increments from January 1, 1993 until August 31, 2008. The numbers on the left hand side represent jobs in units of 1000, so at the top of the graph where you see the number "500", that represents a gain of 500,000 jobs. The number at the bottom of the left hand side, "250", represents a loss of 250,000 jobs.



During the best Bush month, July of 2005, 368,000 jobs were created. During the best Clinton month, September of 1997, 508,000 jobs were created. During the worse Clinton month, March of 1993, 51,000 jobs were lost. During the worse Bush month so far, October of 2001, 325,000 jobs were lost.

The historical record seems pretty clear: GOP policies suck at creating jobs.