Hey, I'm the first to admit it...

...math is hard.

That's why I majored in poli sci instead of engineering, after all. Even someone with a lifelong bias for essay questions over equations can tell that the Bushco claims of economic recovery are overblown, though, and you don't have to take my word for it. I'll yield to Scott Lilly's facility with crunching numbers, and his ability to put them in terms that even social science students can understand in his latest report on the job market for the Center for American Progress.

During the first six months of 2004 employment grew from 130,035,000 in December to 131,301,000 in June or by 0.97%. Is that significantly better than previous six month periods? The answer is no. When compared to the first and last six months of each year for the last 50 years, this past six months ranks 59th out of the 100 — in other words not only not great, but not even quite middling.

Does the performance improve if we examine only the last quarter? The second quarter was a little better than the first and certainly was the best of this administration. But a very similar comparison emerges for the second quarter when compared to the 199 other quarters in the last 50 years. The 0.51% increase in employment in the second quarter of 2004 was exceeded by 116 of the 199 other quarters. Again, a performance that did not reach the median for job growth.

More, (with color coded charts for the visual learners in the audience) behind this link.