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In the Forbes article "The Worst Five Years Since the Great Depression", it is quoted:

[...] what America got by year five was fewer jobs than before. Even though the employment age population has increased by nearly 12 million since January, 2008, there are now 3 million fewer Americans working, with employment declining from 146.3 million in January, 2008 to 143.3 million in December, 2012. If America enjoyed the same labor force participation rate as in 2008, the unemployment rate in December, 2012 would have been 11.4%, compared to 4.9% in December, 2007, [...]

Are these claims true?

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    There are a lot of claims here. A lot of them are opinion/emotional (Does Obama have a "cabal"? What "should" have happened? Will 4.9% unemployment be seen again?) Please limit the question to one claim. – Oddthinking Jul 08 '14 at 14:41
  • @Oddthinking Sorry about that. Narrowed it down. Thought it might be relevant to include the hyperbole. –  Jul 08 '14 at 14:45
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    "worst recovery since the Great Depression" -- that's not much of a claim, is it, considering it was the worst recession since the great depression, as well. It's a bit like saying "This is the darkest night since last night!" – Flimzy Jul 08 '14 at 16:34
  • @Flimzy By what statistic are you considering it the worst recession since the Great Depression? The highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression was during the 1982 recession, yet the unemployment rate fell by nealy 1/3 in about one year and a half. Over the same time frame from the 2009 peak, the unemployment rate fell by only about 10%. The 1982 peak in unemployment was 10% higher than the 2009 peak. –  Jul 08 '14 at 16:44
  • @Gracchus: I'm no economist, but that seems to be the [general consensus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession) of a great many people. – Flimzy Jul 08 '14 at 17:50
  • @Flimzy Yes, the left does hold that belief, yet the right would say that Reagan's recession was the worst since. I'd prefer to have well-reasoned research based upon statistical analysis. –  Jul 08 '14 at 17:54
  • You can not challenge claims of belief. You can challenge claims of fact. The current question appears to be a challenge of an opinion and belief not a fact. – Chad Jul 08 '14 at 19:20
  • @Chad I called the general consensus an opinion; they would call it fact. This question seeks to determine true facts about the most severe recession since the Great Depression. –  Jul 08 '14 at 19:26
  • @Gracchus - The point of skeptics is to challenge unsourced claims of fact not to come up with a consensus opinion. – Chad Jul 08 '14 at 19:34
  • @Gracchus I think the problem is a mismatch between the title and the explicit claims in the quote. The judgement that this is the "worst" is a subjective opinion. The claims that "there are now 3 million fewer Americans working", that "If America enjoyed the same labor force participation rate as in 2008, the unemployment rate in December, 2012 would have been 11.4%, compared to 4.9%", etc. are definitely on-topic. –  Jul 08 '14 at 19:41
  • @Gracchus But, to ask about the subjective judgement that even *if* those things were true, whether that would make this the "worst" recession recovery since the great depression... that is not on topic. –  Jul 08 '14 at 19:42
  • We actually have [Politics.SE](http://politics.stackexchange.com) which would be a better fit for these sorts of questions. – user1873 Jul 09 '14 at 00:53

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