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Along with squandering a federal budget surplus, getting us mired in two “wars” and devastating the net worth of most Americans, today’s revised jobs data show a net loss of 646,000 private sector jobs during the eight Bush/Cheney Republican presidential years—and only 1,466,000 private sector net jobs were created during G.H.W. Bush’s four years.

That is, a net of only 820,000 private sector jobs were created over the 12 most recent years of Republican Presidents.

In the first month of Obama’s Presidency another 725,000 private sector jobs were lost. A total of 3,348,000 private sector jobs were lost in Obama’s first six months of trying to get a handle on the economic disaster the Republicans created.

Nonetheless, even including the jobs lost in Obama’s first six months, today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics data show the last 23 consecutive months of private sector job creation restored all but 549,000 of the private sector jobs that existed when Obama was sworn into office.

Obama’s first three-year job record is already better—less awful—than the eight-year Republican record of President George W. Bush.

If January’s strong 257,000-per-month private sector job growth were to continue, the Obama administration would show overall net private sector job growth by April. This seems unlikely but it does seem very likely there will be net private sector job growth by June and at least one million net private sector jobs created by the end of his first term.

Clearly this four-year result for the Obama team is grossly inadequate – held back by partisan Republican obstruction, among other things – but it is now almost certain that more private sector jobs will be created in Obama’s first term than in the past THREE terms of Republican presidents.

If Republicans want to make this an election about the jobs record under Obama, Democrats should encourage them to bring it on.

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