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SCGOP Chairman Connelly to Valerie Jarrett, Obama: “Get back to work”

August 11, 2011

Columbia, S.C. – In advance of Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett’s visit to Columbia today, SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly highlighted Jarrett and Obama’s lack of serious leadership on the economy by saying, “get back to work”:

“America’s economy is suffering, yet Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett continue to jet around the country more worried about re-election than jobs.

“The only jobs they care about are their own. The proof is in their failed economic policies: Unemployment has been above 8 percent for 30 straight months and almost 14,000,000 Americans can’t find jobs. Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett need to get back to work.”

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Valerie Jarrett and Barack Obama by the Numbers:

9.1%:  The unemployment rate for the month of July, the second highest level in 2011 and the 25th out of the last 27 months that unemployment has been at or above 9 percent.  From March 2009 (the month after the stimulus passed) through July 2011, unemployment has averaged 9.4 percent.  Prior to President Obama taking office, unemployment had not been above 9 percent in 28 years.

30:  The number of consecutive months the unemployment rate has been at or above 8 percent–the level the President said unemployment would never reach if the stimulus passed.  Unemployment has not been above 8 percent for 2 ½ straight years since the Great Depression.

13,931,000:  The number of unemployed Americans looking for work in the month of July, the second highest number of unemployed workers of any month in 2011.  The number of unemployed eclipsed 13 million for the first time in history two months after President Obama took office and has remained above 13 million for 29 straight months.

45,753,078:  The number of Americans receiving food stamps, the highest number of recipients in history.  Today, 14 percent of Americans receive food stamps, an increase of 40 percent since President Obama took office.

40.4:  The average number of weeks it takes for job seekers to find a job–the longest average time that Americans have been unemployed since the statistic was first recorded in 1948.

8,396,000:  The number of Americans who are working only part-time because they cannot find full time employment.  The number of people working part time for economic reason reached 8 million for the first time in history under President Obama and has remained above 8 million for 30 consecutive months.

6,185,000:  The number of Americans unemployed and searching for work for more than 27 weeks.  Since President Obama took office, the number of people unemployed for more than 27 weeks has increased by 130 percent.

1,270,000:  The number of job seekers that are new to the workforce and have yet to find a job.  The number of new workers who cannot find a job has been above 1 million for two years.

25.0%: The unemployment rate among job seekers between the ages of 16 and 19.  Youth unemployment has been above 24 percent for 26 months, the longest streak since the Great Depression.

15.9%: The unemployment rate among African Americans, an increase of 25 percent since President Obama took office.

11.3%: The unemployment rate among Hispanics and Latinos, an increase of 14 percent since President Obama took office.

15.0%:  The unemployment rate among Americans without high school diplomas, an increase of 22 percent since President Obama took office.

6.7%: The level at which the Obama administration claimed unemployment would be today if the “stimulus” was signed into law.

1,647,000: The number of net jobs the economy has shed since the Democrats’ “stimulus” was signed into law in February 2009.

$1,161,000,000,000:  The total cost of the Democrats’ “stimulus.”  CBO estimates the cost of the bill will reach $821 billion and interest on the debt for the bill will be at least $347 billion.

Entrepreneurship is at a 17-Year Low:  Since 2007, there has been a 23% drop in new business creation – falling to the lowest levels seen since 1994.

Source: U.S. House Republican Conference
http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/11/08/05/july-unemployment-by-the-numbers