U.S unemployment still stagnant

The United States economy added 204,000 jobs in October, but the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.3 percent.

Despite these gains, the participation rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to a 35-year low 62.8 percent.

The government shutdown appeared to have not made a huge impact which was originally feared by economists. The economy continued to show signs of improvement, but the elusive 6 percent unemployment rate is still far away.

In 56 months of Barack Obama’s presidency, the unemployment rate dropped a grand total of 0.5 percent. The rate was 7.8 in January of 2009 to the 7.3 percent now.

Anti-Obama crusaders, also known as the Tea Party, pointed and shouted at the numbers and continued to remind people that former president George Bush’s rate hovered around 5 percent instead of this 7-percent range we’ve fallen in love with.

However, those on the left argue about the inherited mess Obama received after Bush gift-wrapped piles of debt from two wars and other spending projects. Yes, an administration who campaigned on little to no government spending spent quite a lot while in the White House.

Regardless whom you blame, the fact remains: our economy is still recovering, and debacles like the government shutdown probably aren’t helping.