Which states are doing better in this lousy economy?

**Posted by Phineas

States controlled by Republicans, of course. And, conversely, states controlled by Democrats are showing the least improvement. Jeryl Bier at Speak With Authority provides some telling facts:

• 9 of the 10 states with the lowest current unemployment rates are under Republican control, including six under complete Republican control, one of which is North Dakota with the lowest rate of 3%
• 5 of the 10 states with highest current unemployment rates are under Democratic control, and the four worst are all under Democratic control, one of which is Nevada with the highest rate of 12%
• 8 of the 10 states with the greatest improvement from 2009 to 2012 are under Republican control (and 7 of those are under complete Republican control)
• 7 of the 10 states with the worst performance from 2009 to 2012 are under Democratic control
• 10 of 17 states with current unemployment rates greater than the national average are under Democratic control
• The state with the greatest improvement from 2009 to 2012 (36%) is Michigan, under Republican control
• The two states with the worst performances from 2009 to 2012, Louisiana and Idaho (the rates actually went up,) are under Republican control, but their current rates are still less than the national rate of 8.2%
• States under Democratic control saw an average decrease of 7.7% in the rate of unemployment
• States under Republican control saw an average decrease of 15.3% in the rate of unemployment, virtually double the improvement of states under Democratic control

In other words, to the extent Obama can claim a recovering economy during his term, it’s largely due to states being run by people inclined to do the opposite of what Obama recommends.

I call that a Good Idea(tm), one that should be taken to the national level, no? Republicans should point this out as often as possible between now and November.

Be sure to click through to read Bier’s analysis.

via Tim Groseclose

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)