Unemployment Rate Increase Reaches 26 Year High

Lucia Mutikani's article published in the November 7, 2009 edition of the Washington Post reported on the October 2009 jobless rate increase to 10.2% -- a 26 year high. I assume this was prompted by the November 06, 2009 Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

Lucia reported that "job losses in October were widespread across almost all sectors, with education and health services and professional and business services bucking the trend."

She goes on to say, "...offering a glimmer of hope, temporary help jobs increased by 34,000. It was the biggest gain in temporary employment since the economy fell into recession and suggested companies needed extra hands even if they were not prepared to hire permanently."

I am disappointed that we as Americans can't candidly admit that the Obama administration has done a poor job decreasing unemployment in 2009. Where is the accountability? This is not to say the Obama administration has done a poor job overall, or that you should change your party affiliation. I am simply pointing out how unfortunate it is that around the water cooler, republicans are slamming the president, and democrats are defending this madness with claims like "...things could be so much worse". Party politics are preventing people from objectively evaluating the sad fact that one in ten Americans are unemployed.

Let's take a good hard look at the facts. The National Bureau of Economic Research identified December 2007 as the beginning of the recession. It is common knowledge that President Barack Obama was sworn into office January 20, 2009. Not only is the October 2009 unemployment rate higher than any other month in the last 26 years, but the unemployment rate from January 2009 to October 2009 represents an increase of over 25% from 7.6% to 10.2%.

Let's put party politics aside and admit that what we are currently doing is not working. What a sight it would be to see a U.S. President admit that their theory failed to translate into a reality for the American people. And more importantly, that the administration realizes it is time to try something new. To me, that would be a true change. Democrat, Republican, or Libertarian... who cares? On this issue, we need a new direction.