To understand the competing claims about job growth under Obama and Bush, you really need to look at these two graphs (from Paul Krugman) that separate private and public employment.
Key Points
- Private sector job growth is much more impressive under Obama than it was under GWB.
- Government employment grew much more under Bush and has shrunk under Obama.
- Overall, contracting government employment, which is mostly from state & local governments, masks Obama’s relative success in private sector employment growth.
owenzidar 