January 20, 2011

Report Card on Obama's First Two Years

By K.E. Campbell

Two years ago today, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States. Are you better off today than you were two years ago?

Numbers don't lie, and here are the data on the impact he has had on the lives of Americans:

	January 2009	Current	% chg	Source

Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. (regular conventional)	$1.83	$3.104	69.6%	1
Selected commodities:
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel)	$43.48	$99.02	127.7%	2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel)	$38.74	$91.38	135.9%	2
Natural gas, Henry Hub, $ per MMbtu	$4.85	$4.48	-7.6%	2
Gold: London (per troy oz.)	$853.25	$1,369.50	60.5%	2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL	$3.56	$6.33	78.1%	2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL	$9.66	$13.75	42.3%	2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob	$13.37	$35.39	164.7%	2
Consumer Price Index (for all urban consumers)	211.1	219.2	3.8%	3
Producer Price Index: finished goods	170.3	183.0	7.5%	3
Producer Price Index: all commodities	171.0	189.9	11.1%	3
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall	7.6%	9.4%	23.7%	3
Unemployment rate, blacks	12.6%	15.8%	25.4%	3
Number of unemployed	11,616,000	14,485,000	24.7%	3
Number of fed. employees, ex. uniformed military (curr = 12/10 prelim)	2,779,000	2,840,000	2.2%	3
Real median household income (2008 vs 2009)	$50,112	$49,777	-0.7%	4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)	31,983,716	43,200,878	35.1%	5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)	7,526,598	9,193,838	22.2%	6
Number of long-term unemployed, in millions	2.6	6.4	146.2%	3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 vs 2009)	13.2%	14.3%	8.3%	4
People in poverty in U.S., in millions (2008 vs 2009)	39.8	43.6	9.5%	4
House price index (current = Q3 2010)	198.7	192.7	-3.0%	7
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index: 20 city composite (curr = 10/10)	146.4	145.3	-0.8%	8
Number of properties subject of foreclosure filings, in millions	2.82	2.87	1.7%	9
DJIA (12,403 on 6/3/08, date BHO clinched Dem. nomination)	7,949	11,825	48.8%	2
NASDAQ (2,480 on 6/3/08)	1,441	2,725	89.1%	2
S&P 500 (1,378 on 6/3/08)	805	1,282	59.2%	2
Global Dow	1,356	2,153	58.8%	2
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings	5	9	n/a	10
Consumer Confidence Index (curr = 12/10)	37.7	52.5	39.3%	11
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10)	29.9	23.5	-21.4%	11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 2011 to date)	140	164	17.1%	12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate	89.76	82.03	-8.6%	2
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 preliminary)	1,575.1	1,865.7	18.4%	13
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 preliminary)	8,310.9	8,852.3	6.5%	13
National debt, in trillions	$10.627	$14.052	32.2%	14

Sources:
1 - U.S. Energy Information Admin.
2 - Wall Street Journal
3 - Bureau of Labor Statistics
4 - Census Bureau
5 - USDA
6 - U.S. Dept. of Labor
7 - FHFA
8 - Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller
9 - RealtyTrac
10 - Heritage Foundation and WSJ
11 - The Conference Board
12 - FDIC
13 - Federal Reserve
14 - U.S. Treasury