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Surprise: Blue states fare worse than red under Obama

Surprise: Blue states fare worse than red under Obama

When it comes to the economy, Investors Business Daily points out that politically blue states have done worse economically than red states in Obama's recovery:

Job growth: The average job growth rate for blue states was just 1.2% from June 2009 — the official start of the economic recovery — to March 2012. For red states, it was 1.9%. The national average was 1.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment: The jobless rate in March was 8.5% in blue states, but just 7.4% in red states, BLS data show.

Income: Blue states also did a bit worse when it came to per capita personal income, gaining 4.27% in 2011, compared with 4.35% in red states, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

GDP: The one indicator where blue states outperformed red ones was on GDP growth, clocking an average 2.5% growth between 2009 and 2010 vs. the red states' 2.2%. The state GDP numbers for 2011 won't come out until June.

Home prices: People living in blue states suffered the most when it came to housing prices. Over the past year, the housing price index fell 3.5% in blue states. The index actually edged up by 0.03% in red states. Nationwide, the index was down 2.4%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's House Price Index . Over the past five years, housing prices in red states fell 7.5%, but by 18.5% in blue states.

Gas prices: Blue states also suffer when it comes to gas prices. In fact, all but one of the 10 most expensive gasoline states voted for Obama in 2008. In contrast, all but one of the 10 cheapest gas states voted for McCain, according to gasoline price data from the AAA's fuel gauge report . On average, blue state prices were 5% higher than those in red states.

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