Good economic news

The news this morning that unemployment dropped to 10 percent is really quite extraordinary. After what we have been facing, the fact that only 11,000 jobs were lost last month is welcome news. We have a long way to go to put the economy back together from the policies of the past eight years, but if you look at the history of recessions and unemployment, this latest number is almost impossible to believe.

This is true especially considering the shocks to our economic system, the depth of the recession and the structural problems of the meltdown. Our unemployment problems aren’t behind us, but the projections that the number would jump even higher for November simply did not hold up. Make no mistake, this ain’t over, and much needs to be done to free up credit, encourage small business to hire and expand and restore confidence in our system.

But if you look at the situation in 1982-83, and for that matter with most recessions, this new development is even more encouraging. For those of us who remember that period in the early 1980s, when 1982 became a referendum on the Reagan policies and the recession, resulting in a loss of 26 House seats by the Republicans, we are very much looking at November 2010.

What most people do not realize is that unemployment was at 10.1 percent in September of 1982, hit 10.8 percent in November and December of that year and continued over 10 percent through June of 1983. That was a full 10 months of over 10 percent unemployment. A very tough economic time for Americans.

By October of 1984, just before the reelection of President Reagan, the unemployment rate had dropped to 7.4 percent — hence the campaign slogan, “It’s Morning Again in America.”

No one is popping champagne corks at the White House just yet, but I do think a holiday toast to a welcome report, brought about by focused policies to stimulate the economy, create jobs and get this country moving again, is definitely appropriate.