Barack Obama has done something no other president has done in the five months after his election.
He and his pals Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid laid the groundwork for this achievement back in June when they created what I have since last July been calling the POR (Pelosi-Obama-Reid) Economy, so it is fair to say that Obama's accomplishment, spanning November 2008 through March 2009, belongs to him, with a heavy assist from his fellow party members.
It took a lot of hard work, perseverance, and persistence, but he and they have done it. That crowning achievement follows the jump.
Obama is the first president to have five straight months of decline in real employment following his election.
We're not talking about that seasonally adjusted stuff that gets reported every month and misinterpreted as if that is what actually happened. No-no-no. I'm referring to five straight months of decline in the number of Americans actually working, i.e., the not seasonally adjusted figures. Defying any and all seasonal factors that would work against this accomplishment, the economy on the ground has lost jobs in each and every one of the past five months:
You start to appreciate just how difficult this achievement was when you look at how large the job additions were during comparable months in 2004 through 2008.
It gets "better." The real, on-the-ground job losses represent the only time in 70 years of history available at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the real, on the ground, not seasonally adjusted economy has lost jobs for five consecutive months. The, only, time (click on graphic to see a full-size version in a separate window):
And of course, although I hope I'm wrong, the losing streak may not stop at five.
It's conceivable that March's on the ground loss of 58,000 might be changed in subsequent revisions, but that seems highly doubtful. January's original seasonally adjusted -598,000 went to -741,000 after subsequent revisions. February's first seasonally adjusted revision released today had no change from the original -651,000. A March reversal of +59,000 or more in the next two not seasonally adjusted revisions seems pretty unlikely. Even if that happens, no other president has seen the economy lose jobs on the ground for even four consecutive months after his election.
Is anyone foolish enough to believe that the applauding establishment media will take note of what has really happened with jobs on the ground since Dear Leader's election?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
