When Barack Obama became President, our nation had just experienced what former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called “the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.” The State of the Economy – Then and Now captures the scope of the U.S. economy from that time until the near end of the Obama administration.

The facts highlighted in the document and charts demonstrate vast improvement over the past eight years. Unemployment has been reduced by more than half since its recession high. Real GDP is up 16.3 percent since the start of the Obama administration. Household wealth has increased more than $35 trillion. Over 15.6 million private sector jobs have been added in the recovery.

The short report, prepared by the Democratic staff of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) includes economic data that tracks key indicators in all 50 states, including private-sector job growth, unemployment and home prices.