ObamaFacts: The Economy

Certainly the economy is not as robust as we would like it to be. That being said, it is undeniably better than it was on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama was inaugurated. Some facts:

US Industrial Production Growing:  According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ "industrial production measures changes in output for the industrial sector of the economy which includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Industrial Production is an important indicator for economic forecasting." Based on the rhetoric one would suggest that this must be down horribly over the last few years. But nothing could be further from the truth.

As of January, 2009, industrial output was falling at a rate of over -9%, and fell to around -12%. It had been negative, in other words industrial output was shrinking, for all of the previous year. Within 6-months of taking office, the trend in US Industrial Production changed. Over the last 2.5 years, US Industrial Production has averaged around a +5% growth rate. It was +4.7% in May, 2012. This means US Industrial production is Growing.

As a comparison, change in:
Euro Area's Industrial Production was negative in January 2009 and is still negative, though not as bad. This means it continues to shrink.
China's Industrial Production was growing at over 18% in January 2009, and is now growing at under 10%.

US Business Confidence Up:  According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ this index, also referred to as the Purchasing Manager's Index, "is a composite index of five indicators (production level, new orders, supplier deliveries, inventories, employment level), which are extracted through surveys to more than 400 purchasing managers from around the country, chosen for their geographic and industry diversification benefits."

As of January, 2009, US Business Confidence (PMI) was 35.5. It was 60.1 in May, 2012, UP 69%.
Not surprisingly given recent debt crises, Euro Area business confidence was in negative numbers and is still in the negative numbers.
Chinese Business Confidence is up about 25% since January 2009.

US Consumer Confidence Up:  "The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) is a barometer of the health of the U.S. economy from the perspective of the consumer. The index is based on approximately 3,000 completed questionnaires reflecting consumers’ perceptions of current business and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for six months hence regarding business conditions, employment, and income."

As of January, 2009, the CCI was 35. It was 65 in May, 2012, UP 86%.
Euro Area Consumer Confidence has been negative for many years. The US has at least always been positive.
Chinese Consumer Confidence is essentially the same as it was in January 2009.

US Exports Up:  Well certainly we are not exporting at all well, with an economy as bad as ours. Ahhh, not really true. In fact, according to  http://www.tradingeconomics.com/,

"US [exports] reached an all time high of 184.44 Billion USD in March of 2012." 

That is more than China!

As of Jaunary, 2009, US Exports were well under $130 billion dollars/month.
In May of 2012, US Exports were $183 billion dollars/month. UP 46%.

Euro Area Exports are up from about $110 billion/month to just under $150 billion/month.
China exports were worth 181.1 billion USD in May of 2012. 

Perhaps we are moving in the right direction after all.