How’s the State of the Union? Here Are the Statistics

Tonight, President Barack Obama will probably announce that the state of the union is strong. OK. But exactly how strong is it? Last fall, before the election, Bloomberg Businessweek asked whether Americans were better off than on the day of Obama’s first inauguration, Jan. 20, 2009. We concluded it was a mixed bag. Here’s an update on some of the key metrics (using the most current figures available):