OFF THE WIRE
Is the nation better off than it was four
years ago?
The answer largely depends on the
statistics you pick.
With President Barack Obama beginning his
second term, there are plenty of numbers suggesting that the country is on more
solid footing than it was when he first took office on Jan. 20, 2009.
The Dow Jones Industrial average is up
5,550 points since then. The economy is growing (instead of contracting).
Consumer confidence has nearly doubled (though it remains below where it was
before the Great Recession). And a larger percentage of Americans believe the
country is headed in the right direction (but a majority still think it’s on the
wrong track).
On the other hand, there’s data indicating
that the nation isn’t better off than it was four years ago – and that the Great
Recession continues to take a toll on families. Median household income
(adjusted for inflation) is lower than it was in 2009. And more Americans live
below the poverty level than they did four years ago.
And some numbers are exactly the same. The
current unemployment rate is at 7.8%, which is where it was in Jan. 2009 (though
it’s down from a high of 10% in Oct. 2009). And right now, there are roughly 49
million Americans without health insurance, which is identical to where it was
in 2009. (The health-insurance mandate under the health-care law doesn’t kick in
until 2014.)
Here are other figures over the last four
years:
-- The number of U.S. troops in Iraq has
dwindled from nearly 140,000 to just 200, while the presence in Afghanistan has
increased from 34,000 to 66,000.
-- The federal public debt has increased
from $10.6 trillion in Jan. 2009 to $16.4 trillion now.
-- The number of Democrats serving in the
U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and in governorships across the country has
declined.
Below is a look at Obama’s presidency – so
far – by the numbers. The “then” figure is the best-available figure for when
Obama was taking office in 2009. And the “now” is the most recent figure. First
Read, in 2009, ran a statistical then-vs.-now comparison of George W. Bush’s
presidency.
Unemployment rate
Then: 7.8% (Jan. 2009)
Now: 7.8% (Dec. 2012)
Dow Jones
Industrial Average
Then: 7,949.09 (close as of Jan. 20, 2009)
Now: 13,534.89 (close as of Jan. 15, 2013)
Gross
Domestic Product
Then: -5.3% (1st quarter of 2009)
Now: +3.1% (3rd quarter of 2012)
Consumer
Confidence (1985=100)
Then: 37.4 (Jan. 2009)
Now: 65.1 (Dec. 2012)
Americans
who believe the country is headed in the right direction
Then: 26% of adults (Jan. 2009 NBC/WSJ
poll)
Now: 41% of adults (Dec. 2012 NBC/WSJ
poll)
Median
household income (adjusted for inflation)
Then: $52,195 (Census data for 2009)
Now: $50,054 (Census data for 2011)
Americans
living below the poverty level
Then: 43.6 million (Census data for
2009)
Now: 46.2 million (Census data for 2011)
Americans
without health insurance
Then: 49.0 million (Census data for
2009)
Now: 48.6 million (Census data for 2011)
Americans
receiving food stamps
Then: 33.5 million (average for 2009)
Now: 46.6 million (average for 2012)
Federal
budget deficit
Then: -1.4 trillion (FY
2009)
Now: -$1.1 trillion (FY 2012
projected)
Federal
public debt
Then: $10.6 trillion (Jan. 20, 2009)
Now: $16.4 trillion (Jan. 14, 2013)
Federal
spending as a percentage of GDP
Then: 25.2% (FY 2009)
Now: 24.3% (FY 2012 projected)
Median
sales price of new homes
Then: $208,600 (Jan. 2009)
Now: $246,200 (Nov. 2012)
Number of
Democrats in U.S. House of Representatives
Then: 257 (2009)
Now: 201 (2013)
Number of
Democrats (plus independents caucusing with Dems) in U.S. Senate
Then: 58 (Jan. 2009)
Now: 55 (Jan. 2013)
Number of
Democratic governors
Then: 28 (2009)
Now: 19 (2013)
