Unemployment has dropped to a historic 4.6% which means unemployment is at the lowest it has been since 2007, before the market crash. This is an impressive feat for the Obama administration that in 2010 reached an unemployment rate of 17.1%. To be able to reach an unemployment rate that low right before the end of his administration is important for Obama and will go down as one of the highlights of his administration.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) registers unemployment, which is a part of the United States Department of Labor. BLS is the main fact-finding agency for labor statistics in the United States government. The BLS uses multiple factors to determine the unemployment rate every year then put that information together to create the U-6. U-6 is considered the “real” unemployment rate. A few of the statistics put together to measure U-6 are,

• Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force.
• Jobs losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force.
• Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force.
• Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.
• Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.

To learn more about BLS go to The Bureau of Labor Statistics which lays out the full details on how BLS unemployment rate works.

The Obama administration has been through a lot of controversy surrounding Benghazi, IRS targeting, Affordable Health Care Act, and more. Of course every administration will be filled with controversy but it is important for a president to try to outweigh the controversy with accomplishments. Now, whether or not President Obama is remembered as a great president is up for debate and will be debate for years after his presidency. Having a win like the drop in unemployment is an accomplishment and can only add to the legacy Obama hopes to build before he leaves office.

The other group benefiting from the unemployment rate drop is, well, The American people. The unemployment rate is an up and down situation that in the long run doesn’t ruin the economy, but at the rate it has increased over the years due to the recession has only increased the hurt our economy has felt over the past eight years. The rise in unemployment causes those who lost their jobs to not put as much money back into the economy as they would with a job. The more and more people who lose their jobs the less money is put back into the economy. For the unemployment rate to drop to a level lower than when the recession began is not only important for the individual but for all.