Who Said J.R.?(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)

Economy: Did Bob McTeer, the colorful head of the Dallas Fed, really use the term "jobless recovery" to describe this rebound?

Doesn't he know them's fightin' words to a fellow Texan? George W., after all, supposedly has made it a point to understand precisely what got his father run out of town. And no doubt he has reckoned, as others did, that it was "the economy, stupid."

Specifically, it was an economy that, despite bottoming early in 1991, still seemed like it was in recession in November 1992 because things that Americans cared about most were improving the least.

Things like the jobless rate, which kept climbing long after growth resumed (see chart), and disposable income, the growth of which fell to zero.

Adding insult to injury was a president who seemed, or who was made to seem, uncaring.

Fast forward to 2002. The economy, again by many gauges, appears to be bouncing back. This could be seen in Friday's data showing manufacturing picking up, consumer sentiment remaining buoyant and productivity positively booming.

What remains to be seen, as McTeer noted in remarks Thursday, is how many of the 1.83 million jobs lost in the last 14 months will be recouped -- and how soon.