Obama's Economy, By the Numbers

Updated
Barack Obama
Barack Obama

"The economy is not in recovery," Mitt Romney said at a pre-debate rally in Denver. "We're not seeing the real recovery. The president's policies have not worked. He doesn't get that. He doesn't understand that. We must get America growing again with a strong economy."

And indeed, more than three years after the official end of the recession, America's economy is in mixed shape. Corporate profits are at an all-time high, but the unemployment rate remains above 8%. Indicators of poverty are similarly grim, although the Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to pre-crisis levels.

With an eye toward capturing some snapshots of the economy before and after the advent of Obama, DailyFinance has compiled the following index of stats relating to jobs, housing and business. Take a look in advance of tonight's debate on domestic policy, when the question of the president's impact on the economy will be very much at issue.

Median household income when Barack Obama entered office (January 2009): $54,983

Median household income in June 2012: $50,964

Percent by which median household income fell in the two years after the end of the recession in June 2009: 4.1

Disposable income per capita in 2008: $33,229

Disposable income per capita in the first quarter of 2012, at an annualized rate: $32,677

Total non-farm payrolls in January 2009: 133.561 million

Total non-farm payrolls in August 2012: 133.686 million

Net change in number of jobs under Obama: +125,000

Median weeks of unemployment for a jobless worker in January 2009: 10.7

Median weeks of unemployment for a jobless worker in August 2012: 18.0 (down from a peak of 25.0 in June 2010)

People participating in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) in January 2009: 31,983,716

People on food stamps in June 2012: 46,670,373

Poverty rate in 2009: 13.2% (up from 12.5% in 2008)

Poverty rate in 2011: 15.1%

Corporate profits in 2008, the final year of George W. Bush's presidency: $1.2 trillion

Corporate profits in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively: $1.4 trillion, $1.8 trillion, $1.9 trillion

Projected 2009 federal deficit when Obama took office: $1.2 trillion (up from $458 billion in 2008)

Actual 2009 deficit: $1.41 trillion

Estimated 2012 deficit: $1.33 trillion

U.S. Consumer Confidence Index in January 2009: 37.4

U.S. Consumer Confidence Index in September 2012: 70.3

Median home sale price in January 2009, and the number of new homes sold that month: $208,600/24,000

Median home sale price in August 2012, and the number of new homes sold that month: $256,900/31,000

Number of homeowners who President Obama claimed would be helped by government-backed mortgage modification: "as many as three to four million"

Number who had applied for aid as of May 2012: 4.3 million

Number who had received government-sponsored modifications: 1 million

Percent of Americans who are "dependent upon government," according to Mitt Romney: 47

Actual percent of Americans who have benefited from government help, including breaks in the tax code: 96

Sources

Median household income: Census Bureau (via Forbes)

Fall in median household income since end of recession:Pew Research Center

Disposable income per capita:Bureau of Economic Analysis (via Politifact)

Non-farm payrolls: Bureau of Labor Statistics (via Huffington Post)

Median weeks unemployed: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Food stamps:Agriculture Department (via Politifact)

Poverty rate: Census Bureau (via Politifact)

Corporate profits: Bureau of Economic Analysis (via Politifact)

Projected 2009 federal deficit:The New York Times

2009 and 2012 deficits: Office of Management and Budget (via Politifact)

Consumer confidence: The Conference Board (via Politifact and The Sacramento Bee)

Median home sale price:Census Bureau (via Politifact)

Number of new homes sold:Census Bureau (via Politifact)

Mortgage modification:Treasury Department (via The New York Times)

Percent of Americans who have benefited from government help: Suzanne Mettler of Cornell and John Sides of George Washington University (via Bloomberg)

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