Reply #16: Here's a newer version ... it makes the same point as the OP, plus another ...

[JoePhilly]

As you can see, prior to the stimulus, we were losing private sector jobs all through 2008 and an accelerating pace.

During 2009, starting immediately after the stimulus passed in Feb 2009, the loss trend reverses.

We then begin to GAIN private sector jobs, by March 2010 (so within one year of the stimulus).

Notice the spike in public sector jobs there, those are most likely associated with the census effort. And notice those go away in the next 4 months. They were temporary jobs.

But as you can see, from March 2010, up until now, we've been adding private sector jobs. Oh, and those public sector job loses in the most recent months ... we can thank the GOP Governors for those.