Job Losses Since Bush Took Over in 2001

Can someone point me to a reference to the total amount of jobs lost since Bush took over? I need a reliable reference.

Thanks!

source: do a google search for the dem radio address this week

... has a website at www.bls.gov and, with some small amount of exploration, anyone can find the "numbers" ... and also read about what they mean.

Total Nonfarm Employment - Seasonally Adjusted
January 2001: 132,436,000
July 2003: 129,870,000
That's a loss of 2,566,000 jobs.

Total Nonfarm Employment - Not Seasonally Adjusted
January 2001: 130,433,000
July 2003: 129,597,000
That's a loss of 836,000 jobs. (Ignore this unless making comparisons for the same month in different years.)

Government Employment - Seasonally Adjusted (included in the above)
January 2001: 20,836,000
July 2003: 21,473,000
That's a gain of 637,000 jobs in federal, state, and local government, not counting government contractors.

Now, for some perspective. The civilian labor force grows over time as population grows. Thus, employment must increase at about the same rate just to keep even. It hasn't.

Unemployment Level - Seasonally Adjusted
January 2001: 5,951,000
July 2003: 9,062,000
That's 3,111,000 more unemployed people.

The difference of approximately 545,000 people between the decrease in employment and the increase in unemployment only partially accounts for the potential (population-driven) increase in the size of the workforce. It does not include those who're jailed, hospitalized, disabled, or homeless. (The homeless aren't counted for employment purposes due to the methods used.)

This is indicated by the "Employment-Population Ratio" which was 64.4 in January 2001 and 62.1 in July 2003. (This indicates the percentage of the population that's employed ... 2.3% fewer of us, or about 6.4 million people. )

Does this help?


Note: Too many people want to believe it should be simpler to understand without doing the work to understand why the numbers aren't simpler. While there's certainly room for "cooking the books," it's not reflected in the minor complexities of the basic figures.

(Edited for clarity.)

Another explanation for the difference between the jobs lost number and the total number of unemployed is immigration policy. Many people here on work visas have probably returned home.