Bush leaves as he came in: a job-loss president.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has counted nearly 1.47 million fewer people as part of the labor force in November 2008 than in November 2007, at least in part due to its methodology of excluding “discouraged workers.” The civilian non-institutionalized population (over 16 years of age) increased by over 2.96 million people. 1.76 million fewer people were employed.

By comparison, in the years 2001-2002, the peak of the dot-com crash and Bush’s first full year in office, the civilian non-institutionalized population increased by 2.48 million, and the labor force increased by 1.13 million, even as 448,000 fewer people were employed, 1.58 million more were unemployed, and 1.35 million fewer were counted as part of the labor force.

But remember, unemployment is “efficiency.”

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