Springston1

SamSpringston
CindyRogers
English12
16October2015
UnemploymentinAmerica
InDecemberof2007,theUnitedStatesenteredarecession.Duetoavarietyoffactors,
suchastheburstofthehousingbubbleandtheincreaseinthepriceofoil,Americaexperienced
itshighestunemploymentratesincetheGreatDepression.Thisrecessionbeganattheendof
GeorgeBushssecondtermandwasadirectresultofhisadministrationsconservativepolicies.
Asthedeclinecontinued,Obamatookofficeandchangedeconomicpoliciesinaneffortto
combatthefiscaldownfall.BecauseoftheactionsoftheObamaadministration,theUnited
Stateswasrecentlyabletoreturntoanormallevelofemployment.
GeorgeW.Bushsadministrationputinplaceseveralconservativeeconomicpolicies.
Thesepolicieshadanegativeeffectontheeconomyandledtotheunemploymentsituationthat
hasplaguedObamaspresidency.Bushsapproachwastolowergovernmentinterventioninthe
economyandreducetaxesontherich.Theseideasarebasedintheunrealisticconservative
beliefinacompletelyfreecapitalistmarket.Itdeniestheamountofgovernmentintervention
thatisrequiredinordertokeepoureconomystableandprohibitunfairandimmoralpractices
towardsworkersandconsumers.Ontopofthis,Bushhadthegoalofincreasinghomeownership
inAmerica.Hebelievedthatmorepeopleowninghomeswouldimproveoveralleconomic
security.Allofthesethingsworsenedthehousingbubble,whichwasoneofthemaincausesof
therecession.

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ByobservingtheunemploymentratethroughoutBushspresidency,wecanseethathis
economicguidelineshadanegativeeffectontheeconomyandemploymentrates.Accordingto
theBureauofLaborStatistics,theunemploymentratewhenBushenteredofficewas4.2%.By
thetimehistwotermshadended,itwas7.8%(Scher).Inhisfinalyearofpresidencyalone,3.6
millionjobswerelost.Itisimpossibletodenythatthesestatisticsareuniquetohispresidency.
RegardlessoftheeconomicviabilityofBushspolicies,itisobviousthattheactionsofhis
administrationhadtohavehadsomerelationtotherisingunemploymentrates.
Obamasadministrationhastakenamuchmoreliberalapproachtotheeconomy.Hehas
raisedtaxesonpeoplewithhigherincomesinanefforttoassistandstrengthenthemiddleclass.
Ontopofthishehasdirectedgovernmentfundingtowardspublicservices.Theseinfrastructures
notonlyhelptheAmericanpeople,butalsocreatejobs.AccordingtoCNNsTamiLuhby,these
programshavecreatedasignificantamountofjobsinhealthcareandfoodwork(Luhby).
ObamasinterestinsocialprogramstohelpallcitizensoftheUnitedStateshashelpedthe
people,theeconomy,andthecreationofjobs.
UnemploymentstatisticsshowthatObamaspresidencycreatedalotofjobsand
increasedemployment.AlthoughthehighestunemploymentrateoccurredduringObamas
presidency,itisimportanttonotethatObamahadjusttakenofficeandthisratewasjustaresult
oftherecessionthatwascausedbytheBushadministration.Factcheck.orgclaimsthat
6,371,000jobshavebeencreatedsince2009(Jackson).ThiscreationbeganshortlyafterObama
hadtakenofficeandwasabletoexercisepoliticalandeconomicinfluence.Whenhetookoffice,
theunemploymentratewas7.8%.Sixyearslater,inAugustof2015,theunemploymentrate

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wasdownto5.1%(Scher).Thisimprovementisverynoticeableandgreatlycontraststhe
downfallduringtheBushadministration.
TheeconomicpoliciesofBarackObamagreatlydifferedfromthoseofGeorgeW.Bush.
Bushpassedanactthatmadeitmoredifficultforpeopletodeclarebankruptcyaspartofhisplan
toincreasehomeownership.AccordingtoKimberlyAmadeoatAboutNews,thisactforced
peopletotakemoneyoutoftheirhomeequitytopayoffdebts(Amadeo).Thisworsenedthe
SubprimeMortgageCrisiswhichlatercontributedtotherecession.Obamaobservedthatthetop
causeofbankruptcywasthecostofhealthcaresohepassedlegislationthatwouldmakeiteasier
forpeoplewithlowerincomestogetit.Thisnotonlysavedpeoplesmoneyandimprovedtheir
livesbutalsocreatedjobsthatwouldlaterbeimportanttocombatingunemployment.
Additionally,AmadeoexplainsthattheBushadministrationspent$350billiontokeeptheU.S.
financialsystemfromcollapse(Amadeo).Bushsreactiontotherecessionwastotryto
stabilizetheeconomybysubsidizingthemarket,whichironicallycontrastsmanyconservative
ideals.Obamainsteadputmoneyandefforttowardscreatingeducationandinfrastructurejobs,
whichwouldlaterhelptheeconomybecauseoftheincreasedemployment.
Accordingtoprofessionaleconomists,theeconomyisshowingsignsofimprovementfor
thefuture.Thislikelymeansthatemploymentwillimproveaswell.AccordingtoJeffStibel
fromtheHarvardBusinessReview,forunemployment,thebottomlineisthatitisfallingfaster
thanpredicted,andthatmeanstherearemorejobsavailableandthereismoremoneycycling
throughoureconomy(Stibel).Becauseofsuccessfuleffortstoimprovetheeconomy,the
UnitedStatesisseeingimprovementinjobcreation.Inadditiontothis,peoplewhowere
unemployedforlongperiodsoftimearefindingwork.AccordingtotheBureauofLabor

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Statistics,theamountofpeoplethathavebeenunemployedfor27ormoreweekshasbeen
decreasedby779,000inthepast12months(EmploymentSituationSummary).Ifthesecurrent
trendscontinue,thentheU.S.willlikelyseeevenmoregrowthinthefuturefortheeconomyas
wellasemployment.

AlthoughemploymentisupintheUnitedStates,appropriatewagesarestilltoo
uncommon.Thefederalminimumwageiscurrently$7.25anhour.Manypeoplearguethatthis
rateisnotenoughforapersontoliveoffof.Whilecertainemployees,suchasteenagers,may
onlybesearchingforparttimejobsthatdonotpaymorethanminimumwage,thosethatneedto
liveoffoflowpayingjobsarebeingexploitedbycompaniesthatcanlegallypaythembelow
livingwages.Thisisthemainreasonthatpeoplebelievetheminimumwageshouldbechanged.
RaisingtheMinimumWagewouldbeoneofthebestwaystoimprovewagesforall
workers.However,thelikelihoodoftheminimumwagebeingraisedcouldbeaffectedbywhich
politicalpartywinsthenextelection.Typically,theRepublicanpartyisnotinterestedinraising
theminimumwagebecausetheydonotbelievethattheminimumwageshouldexistinthefirst
place.Theconservativeapproachtowagecontrolwouldbetohavenofederalinvolvementand
letindividualstatesdecidewhethertheywanttosetaminimumwageornot.BenCarson,Rick
Santorum,andMittRomneyaretheonlyRepublicancandidatesthathavecomeoutinsupportof
raisingtheminimumwageaccordingtoJoshuaFerrer(Ferrer).NoDemocraticcandidateshave
comeoutinoppositionofraisingtheminimumwagesofar.Whenitcomestoindividual
citizens,92%ofDemocratssupportraisingtheminimumwage,whileonly53%percentof
Republicansbelieveitisappropriate(Polling).IfaRepublicancandidateistryingtoappealtoa
certaindemographicoftheirparty,thentheymaytrytoappearagainsttheminimumwage,while

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aDemocratwouldmostdefinitelysupporttheminimumwageinordertopleasethemembersof
theirparty.Despiteallthis,themostimportantfactorindecidingwhethertheminimumwage
willberaisediscongress.Minimumwagehasonlybeenraisedonceunderanondemocrat
controlledcongress.Currently,congressiscontrolledbytheRepublicanparty,soitisnotlikely
thattheminimumwagewillberaiseduntilcontrolisretakenbytheDemocrats.
TheUnitedStatesrecoveryafterthefinancialcrisisof2007wasgreatlycausedby
Obamaseconomicpolicies.Hetookanoppositeapproachtotheconservativepoliciesthathad
leadtotherecession.Ratherthanderegulatingandallowingaflawedeconomicsystemtohave
freereign,hetookcontrolandbuiltaninfrastructurethatwouldhelptheAmericanpeople,
reinvigoratethedamagedeconomy,andcreatejobs.Theseactionscouldbeseenasverysimilar
toFranklinDelanoRooseveltsapproachtofightingtheGreatDepression.Atatimewhen
overpricedhealthcarewasthemostcommonreasonforpeopletodeclarebankruptcy,Obama
createdasolutionthatwouldbetterbenefitthemajorityofAmericans.Hedefiedthecareless
handsoffapproachtoeconomicsthathispredecessorhadtakenbyshowingthatfederalaction
couldbeextremelyeffectiveinrebuildingthenation'sfinanciallandscapeandactinginfavorof
allAmericans,ratherthantherichest1%.Althoughsomemayignorantlycriticizehimorclaim
thathehasactuallyworsenedthesituation,thestatisticsobviouslyshowthattherecent
improvementsinemploymentratesaswellaseconomicprosperitycorrespondtohistimein
office.

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WorksCited
Amadeo,Kimberly."TheSurprisingSimilaritiesBetweenPresidentsBushandObama."
About.comNews&Issues
.Web.4Oct.2015.
"EmploymentSituationSummary."U.S.BureauofLaborStatistics.U.S.BureauofLabor
Statistics,n.d.Web.17Sept.2015.
Ferrer,Joshua."RepublicanCandidatesOnRaisingTheMinimumWage."
CampaignFor
America'sFuture
.Web.10Oct.2015.
Jackson,Brooks."ObamasNumbers(January2015Update)."
FactCheckorg
.Web.15Oct.
2015.
Luhby,Tami."WheretheJobsAreandAren'tunderObama."
CNNMoney
.CableNews
Network.Web.4Oct.2015.
"Polling."
Polling
.Web.4Oct.2015.
Scher,Bill."Bushvs.ObamaontheEconomy,In3SimpleCharts[UPDATED]."
Campaign
ForAmerica'sFuture
.Web.15Oct.2015.
Stibel,Jeff."WhytheFallingU.S.UnemploymentRateMatters."
HarvardBusinessReview
.18
Nov.2014.Web.15Oct.2015.

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Figure1:AlinegraphrepresentingtheunemploymentlevelthroughouttheObamaandBush
Presdicencies.

Figure2:AbargraphrepresentingtheamountofjobscreatedineachindustryduringObamas
presidency.

Figure3:AlinegraphshowingthedeclineofunemploymentfromApril2014toJuly2015.