Despite October’s better-than-expected jobs report, the Bush economic record remains disappointing, especially for middle class and working Americans. Nearly six years since President Bush took office, many of the most important economic indicators, including indicators measuring the quality of life for working Americans, have moved in the wrong direction.

The number of non-farm jobs has grown by an average of 0.4 percent per year since President Bush took office in January 2001, which is still the worst job creation record of any president since Herbert Hoover. Record budget surpluses have turned into huge deficits, including four all-time highs. The trade deficit under President Bush has hit record highs for each of the past five years and is well on its way to another record this year. Meanwhile, working Americans have been left behind in the Bush economy, with weekly earnings for the typical full-time worker, after adjusting for inflation, lower than they were when President Bush took office.

Today, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), JEC’s senior House Democrat, commented about the latest jobs report and the performance of major economic indicators under President Bush.

“If the lower unemployment rate proves to be more than a temporary dip, that certainly would be welcome news. But when you look beyond this snapshot at the entire Bush economic record, it’s hard to say that the economy, the middle class and working Americans are better off than they were when he took office,” said Maloney. “In general, it’s been almost six years under President Bush of overall economic performance below the hopes and expectations of working Americans. If you look at job creation, debts and deficits, wages, the price at the pump, health care costs or a number of other meaningful economic indicators, the Bush economy has performed worse than before he took office. Working Americans can’t afford much more of this.”

The Bush economic record includes:

• an average annual non-farm job growth rate of 0.4 percent, the worst of any president since Hoover,
• 688,00 more people unemployed,
• an unemployment rate increase of 0.2 percent to 4.4 percent,
• 2.9 million manufacturing jobs lost,
• an increase in long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) of 60 percent to 1.1 million,
• a decrease in the median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary worker of 0.9 percent after inflation,
• a decline in median household income of $1,273, or 2.7 percent, after inflation,
• 5.4 million more people in poverty, for a total of 37 million people in poverty,
• 6.8 million more people lacking health insurance, for a total of 46.6 million uninsured,
• turning a $128 billion federal budget surplus in FY 2001 into a $318 billion deficit in FY 2005,
• five consecutive years of budget deficits,
• three all-time high budget deficits,
• five consecutive record trade deficits,
• a $2.1 trillion rise in federal debt issued to finance budget deficits,
• a more than 50 percent increase (almost 75 cents per gallon) in gas prices since President Bush took office.

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