This year, I've invested heavily in the stock market and I've made some money because of it. Also, given that the stock market's performance is a predictor of economic growth, one can argue that the economy is on its way to some kind of recovery. The truth, however, is that the economic fundamentals of our economy were so bad before the recent downturn that a full recovery is highly unlikely.

Our president has an additional problem in that this economic recovery, for a multitude of reasons, does not possess the key elements necessary for all Americans to share equally in improved prosperity.

As of this month, the unemployment rate for whites rose to 9.5 percent and to 10.2 percent for all Americans. African Americans are still being hit hard with an unemployment rate of 15.7 percent, with it being as high as 50 percent for black teenagers. Double digit unemployment is tragic for Americans who are not accustomed to more than 4 - 5 percent joblessness, but for African Americans, we are always in a recession, since we tend to hover at unemployment rates that exceed those of white Americans by 4 - 5 percentage points. Lots of blame for unemployment has been laid at the feet of President Obama, who has been unable to create jobs as the economy shows signs of recovering.

The greatest problem now for President Obama is that an economic recovery means nothing if he is unable to create jobs. His approval rating has dropped below 50 percent, in large part because of high unemployment, and things are not looking good for our president, at least not right now. It is my expectation, however, that as the economy recovers, Obama's approval ratings will recover also. Americans will no longer need a scape goat.

Brittany Sharpton does a great video on black unemployment. The video is below. Enjoy!

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.