The U.S. Economy

When discussing how well the U.S. economy is doing, one has to look at several different factors. To start with, the U.S.'s gross domestic product is currently at $14.119 trillion, making us the country with the highest GDP in the world. We have gone down only .250 trillion since 2008. Japan currently is second with $5.069 trillion, and China close behind with $4.985 trillion.

Then, we have to look at the unemployment rate. Currently 9.5% of the labor force is unemployed in the United States. From October of 2008 to February of 2009, the unemployment rate rose sharply from 6.1% to 9%. Since then the unemployment rate has stayed relatively the same, despite a spike to 10.6% in January of 2010. This unemployment rate is significantly higher than Japan and China, Japan having 4.9% and China having 4.2%.

Next there is the inflation rate. The U.S. has an inflation rate of 2.1% as of 2011. When compared to China's unfathomable 4.9%, and Japan's stellar 0%, the U.S. is average out of the top three countries.

Overall, the U.S. could be doing better in some areas, and worse in others. Our GDP and inflation rate are fair considering the recession we are in, while the unemployment rate clearly reflects that. The economy as a whole is doing fairly well for the country with the number one country economically in the world.