I don't know about the statistics. I have seen more businesses file chapter 11 and in the back in the last yr. Also, i think that when ppl that are layed off and then stop collecting unemployment, they use that in their statistics as ppl that are back to work, when in fact they are prob accepting much lowing paying jobs. Alot of these so called new jobs are also jobs that are much less in salary then the ones that were replaced. There are also alot of jobs being taken out of the country, as many small businesses and corporations are forced to hire those who will do the same work for much lower wages and whos workmanship is of better quality. I don't think that other than the war in Iraq that it has been the fault of an administration, but in changes in the economic cycles. I believe that the economy fluctuates every 5-7yrs in either an upward or downward trend. We are still, i beleive in the down tread since the last 3 yrs. Hopefully the next few yrs we'll be seeing a noticable improvement.