But of course, I am sure this number is still Bush's fault even though, according to my leftist friend, he was responsible for every job loss during his presidency.
Neither Bush nor Obama are at fault. Each adult is responsible for his own condition.
Job openings are like musical chairs. There are millions of chairs and milliions of players of the game. Young people enter the game. Old people leave the game. Loss of value in retirement accounts has caused many old people to leave the game later than previously expected. Thus, the number of empty chairs in the game declines.
There are always empty chairs available for people who want to play the game. But some people are too choosy about which chair they are willing to sit in. They don’t like the location. It takes too much work to get to the empty chair. The chair is too hard or out of style.
Where I work, about 15% of my area has left for a new job better than the 6 figure jobs they had. The jobs they left have now been filled by other people, each of whom left an opening in their old position that has since been filled.
I average 6 or 7 emails per day from recruiters desperate to fill IT jobs for which they can’t find anyone. It isn’t just IT. I see help wanted signs in both Chicagoland and Central Illinois at fast food, big and small box stores, factories and especially warehouse and trucking companies. Apparently it is especially hard to find competent fork lift operators as they seem to be the most numerous signs posted.
It would be great if there were statistics on how many people change jobs and fill new jobs without ever applying for unemployment comp. I’ve changed jobs at least 50 times in 50 years and never became an unemployment statistic. That is typical of most people who lose their job. They are motivated to work and thus do what it takes to find the work. Unemployment is for those looking for an excuse to whine ... or to game the system.