Let's fact-check Romney's video: bump in the road...
Here is the script of the screenplay taken from Romney's website.....
Script For “Bump In The Road”:
Video Text: “Millions Have Lost Their Jobs Under President Obama” Video Text: “Long Term Unemployment Is Now Worse Than The Great Depression” Video Text: “June 3, 2011 Unemployment Hit 9.1%” Video Text: “President Obama Called It A Bump In The Road” President Obama (audio): “There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery.” Mark: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.”
Derrick: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Melissa: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Jessica: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Jerry: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Kevin: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” American Family: “We are Americans, not bumps in the road.” Matt: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Dustin: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Shirley: “I am an American, not a bump in the road.” Ryan: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Jason: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Group: “I’m an American, not a bump in the road.” Video Text: “BELIEVE IN AMERICA November 6, 2012
”
Have millions lost their jobs under President Obama?
Charts
Courtesy of Politics.Gather.Com
Boehner claims 2.2 million have lost jobs under Obama... According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the figure for the cumulative layoff events during the Obama administration, is 53,834.... For the same time frame in George W Bush's tenure, that number is 48,210, so yes, there have been more layoff events .... But if one clicks on the appropriate chart.... ie If we look at the number of people unemployed, ONE CAN SEE OBAMA LOST FEWER JOBS THAN BUSH...5,258,114(Obama) to 5,384,746(republicans). So whereas Romney is correct in saying millions of jobs were lost under Obama, he is misleading, because even more "millions of jobs" were lost during the similar time frame of George W.Bush.
Next line: “Long Term Unemployment Is Now Worse Than The Great Depression”
Fact: Comparable Statistics for Labor, kept by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only go as far back as 1947... The Great Depression ranged from 1929 through to 1940... In fact, according to
Karen Kosanovich, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the widely reported figure of 25 percent unemployment during the Great Depression was an after-the-fact figure calculated from state and local unemployment "surveys". Some of those other sources, such as Lester V. Chandler’s 1970 book,
“America’s Greatest Depression, 1929-1941,” cites a 1934 Massachusetts survey that nearly 62 percent of males and 54 percent of females had been unemployed for a year or more. That’s much higher than 45 percent being unemployed for six months or more. David M. Kennedy, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning
“Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War,” cites similar figures: in 1933, 62 percent found themselves out of work for longer than a year; 44 percent longer than two years; 24 percent longer than three years; and 11 percent longer than four years.
So even that should be taken with a grain of salt, though a comparison of that figure with the nine percent employment of today suggests the current economic situation is not anywhere as grim as during the Great Depression.
So although the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have comparable data to prove this statement false, this statement has been discredited enough so that CBS who is cited as the source of this misinformation has taken down the assertion and issued a correction. Romney instead has run full tilt with the misinformation.
Next Unemployment Hit 9.1%; Obama called it a bump in the road.
From the peak of a 10.1% in October 09, unemployment per month has decreased accordingly: 9.9, 9.9,
(2010) 9.7, 9.7, 9.7, 9.8, 9.6, 9.5, 9.5, 9.6, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8, 9.4, (2011) 9.0, 8.9, 8.8, 9.0, 9.1... so you see, the tiny spike is a "bump in the road along the path to recovery".. a pretty apt description...
And if you look hard enough a the number of people who were employed in Massachusetts, during Mitt Romney term (1/03- 1/07), you will see he too, had a little bump in the road.....