The Liberal Reagan?

A reader notes something in the graph from Calculated Risk below. The data for the employment-population ratio, unemployment rate, and participation rate for this month are uncannily similar to the mix that Reagan faced in his third year in office. The difference, of course, is that the current economic context is far worse globally than in 1983 and the chance of a very rapid improvement close to zero. But if the narrative of recovery accelerates in the coming year, a big if, the parallels will once again be striking.