One can certainly discuss and debate comparisons of unemployment rates between January 2009 (when Obama took office) and today. One can discuss at what point Obama's policies can be deemed to have actually been able to any effect, or how rates were actually trending at those two points, or what goes into those rates and how different policies and actions and political squabbles have contributed to same.
What you can't do — unless you're a liar, an idiot, or Fox News — is compare two completely different numbers as "proof" of anything. Either you compare the Official Unemployment Rate (7.8% vs 8.1%), or you compare a composite rate of unemployed, discouraged unemployed, and underemployed (14.5% vs. 14.7%). You can't pick one from Column A and one from Column B … unless Obama supporters get to say that unemployment has dropped from 14.5% to 8.1%.
Suggesting that Fox producers an talking heads had no idea what it was saying, or realized that the numbers were completely different in nature, doesn't seem credible.
As Laura Ingraham said, "Other than Fox News, where are you really seeing those statistics?" Exactly.
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Their graphics just get worse and worse. Fox used a dishonest comparison to suggest the unemployment rate has nearly doubled since Obama took office.
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The 7.8% figure was the official unemployment
rate from January 2009. The current official unemployment rate is 8.1%, not 14.7%. Their 14.7% takes into account those who are actively looking for work, people who are unemployed and discouraged from looking for a new job, part-time workers who prefer full-time employment, and more.Comparing the official unemployment rate to conservatives' 'real' unemployment rate is simply a matter of Fox irresponsibly plucking numbers from wherever they can. Again.
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