TERRE HAUTE —
It has become a monthly ritual.
On the first Friday of each month, the U.S. government releases the previous month’s unemployment rate, setting off a dizzying spin of analysis and commentary that could daze and confuse the most stable and clear-thinking person.
The exercise has been especially intense since the collapse of the financial system, housing market and accompanying economic recession. And the attention to the numbers has increased even more as the general election grows closer.
For the record, according to Friday’s Associated Press report, U.S. employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, a third straight month of weak hiring that shows the economy is still struggling three years after the recession ended. That left the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent, unchanged from the previous month.
It’s difficult to have a reasonable conversation about the economy these days because of its historical impact on presidential elections. The way people view the economy and jobs figures largely depends on their political philosophy/ideology.
Hard-core Republicans and Democrats each have predictable viewpoints which bolster their own political hopes and dreams and cast aspersions on the other.
Republicans say the sluggish economy shows that President Obama’s policies have failed to spark an appropriate recovery and that their presumptive candidate, Mitt Romney, has a better plan and deserves the chance to implement it.
Democrats say recovery is progressing, albeit slowly, and that the recession, which started during a Republican administration, was so deep and destructive that it will take more time for the economy to right itself to the point where unemployment shrinks to more acceptable levels.
Independents, of course, are actually the ones who will ultimately decide the election. And it is they who most severely feel the whiplash over the monthly spin battle. They are those in the vast middle of the political spectrum who understand that the truth about the state of America’s economy is fragile and fuzzy.
They know the economy is indeed growing and recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. They know it will be a slow process hindered at times by global developments beyond our country’s control. But they’re getting impatient nonetheless, and they’re becoming less confident about their incumbent president’s ability to keep the recovery on course.
They also know that the monthly news on the unemployment rate, whether it’s up, down or unchanged, is only part of larger body of information on which they will ultimately make their voting decision.
That’s the way it should be.
There is a lot to consider when it comes to assessing the overall state of the American economy. The unemployment rate is a factor, and an important one at that. Jobs and joblessness are key personal measures of how well our country is doing.
But ours is a large and diverse country. Some regions are doing better than others. In the Midwest alone, there are stark differences. Indiana’s May jobless rate was 7.9 percent while its neighbor to the east, Ohio, recorded a region’s best 7.3 percent. Meanwhile, to the west, Illinois had a rate of 8.6 percent. Michigan was at 8.5 percent, Kentucky at 8.2 percent.
Even within states, employment numbers can sport wide ranges. Indiana is no exception.
Evaluating statistics is relative to, well, lots of factors. We urge you to take that into account when sizing up the economic future, both your personal stake and the country’s. Political spin will only get you so far.
Opinion
T-S EDITORIAL: Lots of factors to consider when assessing economy
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