• The economy has now added twice as many jobs since Obama took office than it did in his predecessor’s entire eight years in office.
• Stockholders have grown wealthier; the S&P 500 has gained 110 percent.
• But fewer Americans own their own homes. The rate of home ownership has dropped by 2.3 percentage points.
• However, fewer homeowners are now being forced out by foreclosures. Lenders initiated fewer foreclosure proceedings in June than at any time in the past seven-and-a-half years.
• Consumer prices have risen a modest 9.9 percent since Obama first took office, but wages have barely kept pace. Real weekly earnings rose just 0.1 percent.
• The federal debt declined a bit recently due to the tax-season surge in payments to the Treasury. But the debt is still up nearly 90 percent, and on a path to double.
• While states and cities laid off millions of their workers to make ends meet, the Obama administration continued to hire. The federal workforce is nearly 5 percent larger now, and has grown faster than the U.S. population.
• Obama has now traveled to 38 countries, visiting some more than once. Bush visited 75.
• The president is far short of meeting his goal of doubling U.S. exports. They have risen 31 percent since he took office, and only 2 percent in the most recent 12 months.
• Domestic oil production continues to soar, up 46 percent. Oil imports have plunged by 38 percent. But the U.S. still depends on foreign sources for more than a third of what it consumes.
• Wind and solar power have increased 176 percent. But those sources still make up just 3.4 percent of U.S. electric generation. Coal still accounts for the biggest share: nearly 39%
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