First Read compiles some statistics from the start of President Obama’s first term.

“The Dow Jones Industrial average is up 5,550 points since then. The economy is growing (instead of contracting). Consumer confidence has nearly doubled (though it remains below where it was before the Great Recession). And a larger percentage of Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction (but a majority still think it’s on the wrong track).”

“On the other hand, there’s data indicating that the nation isn’t better off than it was four years ago – and that the Great Recession continues to take a toll on families. Median household income (adjusted for inflation) is lower than it was in 2009. And more Americans live below the poverty level than they did four years ago.”

Annie Lowrey: “Consider how different our politics might be today if the economy had not collapsed in 2008 and not been mired in sluggish growth ever since. A ballpark estimate suggests that if the economy were to grow one percentage point more than expected in each year over the next 10, the deficit would shrink by more than $3 trillion. That would be more than enough to set the ratio of our debt to our annual economic output on a comforting downward trajectory. Moreover, it would happen without making cuts to a single program, like Medicare or food stamps, or without raising a single dollar of additional tax revenue. Even a much smaller boost to growth — say one-tenth of a percentage point per year, or even half that — would make Congress and the White House’s burden hundreds of billions of dollars lighter.”

U.S. job growth dropped slightly in December, “showing that the economy muddled along as Congress fought over tax increases and spending cuts,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 155,000 jobs last month… The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, was 7.8%, the same as the prior month, after an upward revision to the November figure.”

Wonk Wire has reaction to the jobs report.

Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. economy expanded at an even faster pace than previously estimated in the third quarter, but the gains could be an outlier for the year as fiscal cliff worries and superstorm Sandy will likely slow growth in the final months of 2012.”

The Federal Reserve “refashioned its bond-buying programs, extending its far-reaching effort to revitalize the jobs market and boost the economic recovery into 2013,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“In addition, the Fed shifted its communications strategy by specifying the levels of unemployment and inflation that might prompt it to begin raising short-term interest rates, which are now near zero.”

Wonk Wire has more details and reaction.

Real gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.7% in the third quarter, Marketwatch reports, up from an initial estimate of 2%.

It was the fastest pace since the end of last year.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that 2013 could be a “very good year” for the U.S. economy if politicians can strike a quick deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, Reuters reports.

“The powerful central bank chief called for a credible long-term framework to put the federal budget on a sound path, but warned against action that would needlessly add to the headwinds facing the economy.”

Wonk Wire: A fiscal cliff solution will avoid another recession.

The Labor Department has not yet ruled out delaying Friday’s jobs report due to the havoc caused by Hurricane Sandy, the Washington Post reports.

The U.S. gross domestic product “grew at an annual rate of 2% in the third quarter as consumers spent more, federal-government spending accelerated and the housing industry improved,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Dylan Matthews: “Politically, that’s good news for the president’s reelection campaign-at least according to most election forecasting models. Given President Obama’s pre-summer approval rating of 46.4 percent, and the average growth rate of 1.766 percent for 2012 to date, the Wonkblog election model puts the odds of Obama winning reelection at about 81.3 percent.”

The RNC collected clips of Democrats making excuses for the sluggish economy in a new video.

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CNBC: “U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose to its highest level in five years in October as consumers became more optimistic about the overall economy in a possible boost to President Obama’s reelection hopes next month.”

Jack Welch: “Imagine a country where challenging the ruling authorities — questioning, say, a piece of data released by central headquarters — would result in mobs of administration sympathizers claiming you should feel “embarrassed” and labeling you a fool, or worse. Soviet Russia perhaps? Communist China? Nope, that would be the United States right now, when a person (like me, for instance) suggests that a certain government datum (like the September unemployment rate of 7.8%) doesn’t make sense. Unfortunately for those who would like me to pipe down, the 7.8% unemployment figure released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week is downright implausible. And that’s why I made a stink about it.”

Bloomberg: “If President Barack Obama is trying to spread the wealth, he doesn’t have much to show for it… Since Obama took office in January 2009, wealthy Americans have continued to pull away from the rest of society. In the aftermath of the recession, income inequality in the U.S. reached a new high in 2011, Census Bureau data show.”

Gallup finds that the rise in economic confidence this month “has been almost exclusively due to soaring optimism among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.”

“It’s possible that the Democratic convention themes praising Obama’s economic record and laying out economic goals for a second term were effective at convincing the party faithful that the economy is not so bad and getting better. Alternatively, the sheer excitement generated by the convention may have boosted Democrats’ optimism that Obama will win re-election, and thus their economic confidence rose in kind.”

Wonk Wire: Why 2013 will be a terrible year even if we don’t go over the fiscal cliff.

“U.S. economic growth pulled back further during the second quarter of the year as consumer spending slowed — a reading that suggests domestic fiscal worries may becoming a more significant drag,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Wonk Wire notes it’s a big week for economic news that may impact the presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney told CNBC that voters who want a strong economy should vote for him, but Americans “ought to give, whichever president is going to be elected, at least six months or a year to get those policies in place.”

Steve Benen: “Throughout the presidential campaign, Romney has said the clock should start in February 2009, Obama’s first month in office. If that’s fair — if the president deserves the blame for every job lost on his 11th day in office — it’s true that under Obama, the economy is still in a deep hole and hasn’t fully recovered from the losses of early 2009.”

“But look what happens when we start the clock, as Romney suggests, six months to a year after President Obama was sworn in. In fact, if we don’t hold Obama’s first year against him, the economy has added over 3.7 million jobs overall during his presidency, and over 4.2 million in the private sector. That’s not the count by my standard; that’s the count by Romney’s standard.”

Businessweek:
“Apparently, retiring 12-term Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is trying to go out not with a bang — but in a cloud of smoke.”