Unemployment and Inflation

I recently responded to a thread about how Biden is supposedly doing a great job on the economy. The author of that thread touted the national unemployment rate of 4.2% to make their case. I wanted to make a separate thread on this, as this is just one of many examples of sophistry to gaslight the American people.

Praising Biden and the Democrats for 4.2% unemployment is like praising someone for setting the house on fire, and and then quickly putting out the flames with only minimal damage--on the surface. Unemployment levels skyrocketed in 2020 due to the lockdowns from Democrat governors. Once Biden was elected, those Democrat governors eased restrictions enough to allow those people who were unemployed due to the policies of Democrats to, once again, return to their jobs. The Wall Street Journal has a good article on this. Here is just a brief snippet that goes into a bit of depth:

"Unemployment was lowest in Nebraska (2.5%), Utah (2.7%), South Dakota (2.9%), New Hampshire (2.9%), Idaho (3%), Vermont (3.1%), Alabama (3.3%), Montana (3.7%) and Oklahoma (3.7%). All are governed by Republicans, except Vermont, which has a GOP Governor and Democratic Legislature.

By contrast, the states with the highest unemployment are all run by Democrats: Connecticut (7.9%), New Mexico (7.9%), Nevada (7.8%), California (7.7%), Hawaii (7.7%), New York (7.7%), New Jersey (7.3%) and Illinois (7.2%). Mere coincidence?" (1)

Additionally, even with Democrat governors easing restrictions, Biden still has not managed to bring unemployment to the pre-pandemic level of national unemployment of 3.5%, under Trump, and we have skyrocketing inflation. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. inflation hit a 39-year high in November." (3)

1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-jobs-unemployment-democrat-governors-covid-lockdowns-11626987661
2. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/1...ess-for-27-weeks-or-more-in-february-2020.htm
3. https://www.wsj.com/articles/us-inflation-consumer-price-index-november-2021-11639088867

 

The GOP had more Governors in 2020, yet the OP blames the Dems for shutting the entire Country down.

LOL, cute thread though. Nice attempt.

 

You got nothin.....we get it

I know it sucks that the numbers aren't on your side, but since you will never be objective, maybe just don't respond instead of a blatant deflection.....

 

Biden took unemployment from 6.3% to 4.2%, Trump took it from 14.8% to 6.3%. Neither of these numbers are impressive. Biden’s jobs numbers are nothing more than a company of 6 shutting down on Friday then claiming they created 5 new jobs on Monday even though they let 1 go. Not impressed.

what does impress me is the rate of inflation this year. That’s the story to be told.

 

Of course, we all know that when your guy is in power, you want to talk about the good things, but not the bad things. When the other guy is in power, it is exactly the opposite. That's how hyper-partisans roll.

 

Even the low unemployment rate borders on useless as a criteria for success. The labor participation rate is much lower than it should be. Too many people are not working and not even looking for work. That creates a shortage of workers. As a result, there is a job available for anyone willing to work and therefore, a low unemployment rate.

 

Ah, so in rightists make believe land, the GOP didn't have the majority of Governors in 2020.

Well, whatever makes you sleep well at night I suppose.

 

No, that was your pathetic attempt at a deflection to the main point of the thread.

Like I said, you have nothing. Move on.

 

I'm sorry your boy lost because the Governors in his party believed his horseshit lies that the virus would vanish when warm weather came.

 

The unemployment numbers are only good when the enormous amount of people who have simply dropped out of the workforce are deducted. And that, plus the record (decades at least) inflation is a very bad mix. We have less people producing and we have less purchasing power. If it was just TVs and designer purses that were harder to get, it might actually be a good thing... but its food and housing. The national median rent is about 1/3 higher than my mortgage and is projected to keep getting higher for the forseeable future. 30 million people more than normal in the third world starved to death since the lockdowns started (did we really 'save' any lives?) and that food shortage is going to hit us eventually.

 

I said both numbers weren’t impressive. It was a government forced shutdown. To shutdown the economy then open it back up and claim you created jobs is complete asinine no matter the party affiliation. But the inflation is a real problem. It’s literally THE problem

 

To quote Mark Twain, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

In the OP, there are 9 red states mentioned and 8 blue states mentioned. 9 GOP governors compared to 8 Democrat governors. However, the sum of the population of all 9 red states pales in comparison to those of the blue states.

Here's the math:

9 red states
1.934 million - Nebraska
3.206 million - Utah
884,659 - South Dakota
1.36 million - New Hampshire
1.787 million - Idaho
623,989 - Vermont
4.903 million - Alabama
1.069 million - Montana
3.957 million - Oklahoma

Total: 19,400,648

8 blue states
3.565 million - Connecticut
2.097 million - New Mexico
3.08 million - Nevada
39.51 million - California
1.416 million - Hawaii
8.419 million- New York
8.882 million - New Jersey
12.67 million - Illinois

Total - 78,577,000

The total population of the all 8 blue states is four times that of the total population of all 9 red states. Therefore, if all the blue states decide to shut down their state economies, it causes devastation to the national unemployment numbers, and we saw that when unemployment skyrocketed in 2020, thanks to the blue states playing politics. Sure, many people lost their livelihoods, but that was okay, as long as it helped get rid of Donald Trump. The Democrat party is just sick and cold in their calculated, callous politics of Machiavellianism.

 

Whatever you say.

Trump is gone and the world celebrated his departure. Time for trumpists to move on and find a new messiah.

 

Interesting example of double-think. I mean, unemployment is not at pre-pandemic level because of Trump's HORRIBLE handling of the pandemic. So if you believe that just "being" President (independently of what you DO as President) is what "causes" problems, then you need to be consistent. It was NOT Biden who set "he house on fire". Neither by just "being president" (like the first part of the above quote implies), nor by his actions.... which was all Trump.

The fact is that Biden inherited a mess. It's easier to create a mess than it is to fix it. But Biden has fixed it. And is well on his way to taking the steps necessary to get us back on the trend that started under Obama.

And BTW, keeping unemployment low by forcing people to work during a deadly pandemic that KILLED a lot of them demonstrates lack of scruples, but it's not what I would call an accomplishment.

 

If you’re suggesting that the unemployment rate doesn’t take the population into account you’re terribly misguided. Those democrat states definitely have the economic power to employ just as high of a percentage. Their policies are most definitely left to blame.

 

Well they did!

 

Well your guys in power now, so feel free to tell us all the good things he has done in 12 months

 

Ah, the old "math, facts, whatever" retort. A timeless classic.

 

Exactly. Thank you for reinforcing my point. It's basic logic.

Or, as Tony Fauci would say, "It's just common sense."

 

You forgot to cite the part of my argument that completely undermines your argument, which is a house of cards on a breezy day. The economy was in the state that it was in in 2020 due to the policies of Democrat governors. Here, let me recite the part of my argument that you conveniently omitted:

Did you happen to notice that unemployment was relatively low in red states and high in blue states, such as New York, wherein Governor Cuomo sent the elderly with COVID to nursing homes to skyrocket their death count? (1) In fact, "New York has 40% more nursing homes residents than Florida, but 700% more nursing home deaths," in May 2020. (2) In fact, in 2020, blue states mostly contributed to the high death count:



No, no, according to the facts, blue states were responsible for the high levels of COVID deaths in 2020. Blue states were responsible for the high unemployment numbers. These are just the facts, Jack, backed up by empirical data.

Had the unemployment levels in blue states been the same as it was in the red states, then unemployment would be about 3.5% throughout the pandemic, but the Democrat policies of blue states increased their own unemployment levels due to sinister motives and sheer incompetence.

1. https://nypost.com/2021/06/15/cuomo-nursing-home-order-caused-more-deaths-task-force/
2. https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/05/21/new-york-state-coronavirus-nursing-home-mandate/

 

You missed mine which was that forcing people to be exposed to a deadly pandemic for the sake of a political talking point is not what any moral human being would consider an "accomplishment".

But, other than that, there is no way any person could reach any sane conclusion by comparing Nebraska to New York by assuming that the only difference is what party the Governor belongs to ... Such can only be described with words that are not acceptable to mods in this forum.

Only people to whom such a comparison would make any sense would be one-dimensional, binary thinking ... uhmmm... people

 

The lion share of COVID deaths came from blue states. Again, let me point out this mind-blowing statistic: "New York has 40% more nursing homes residents than Florida, but 700% more nursing home deaths," in May 2020. (1) How New York handled COVID was simply a microcosm of how the rest of the blue states handled COVID, which led to massive amounts of unemployment and death. And you like to blame Trump, Trump, Trump for his COVID response, meanwhile Biden has been president WITH the vaccine, and yet more people have died under his administration than Trump's, ironically. But, then again, put a Democrat in charge of the presidency and the COVID death count will be high, just like it was in the blue states in 2020.

1. https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/05/21/new-york-state-coronavirus-nursing-home-mandate/

 

Wait, you believe you posted facts?

LOL, well that's your problem right there. Glad I can help!

 

Posting facts is a problem? I've cited all my facts.

In 2020, states run by Democrats had higher unemployment rates as compared to Republicans. (1)
In February 2020, when Trump was president, the national unemployment rate was 3.5%, lower than it is currently. (2)
In 2020, blue states had the lion share of deaths. (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-jobs-unemployment-democrat-governors-covid-lockdowns-11626987661
2. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/1...ess-for-27-weeks-or-more-in-february-2020.htm
3. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-ta...trated-in-democratic-congressional-districts/
4. https://www.economist.com/graphic-d...democratic-states-harder-than-republican-ones
5. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news...states-with-the-most-cases-deaths-on-june-23/
6. https://catalyst.independent.org/2020/07/10/blue-states-covid-19/
7. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/12/08/the-changing-geography-of-covid-19-in-the-u-s/

 

Your hero was the first POTUS in history to leave with less jobs than he entered.

Spin that all you want.