...WINS THE RACE:

This recovery may be slow, but it's also lasted a long time -- far longer than usual -- and job growth has been good.

"We are in the fourth longest expansion in U.S. history," notes Achuthan.

Since World War II, the American economy has typically grown for about five years and then had a contraction. This expansion is already over seven years old.

Furthermore, the average pace of job growth in this recovery has already topped what happened during the 2001 to 2007 expansion under President George W. Bush (the Bush recovery was the slowest in terms of jobs growth, Achuthan says).

Over 14 million jobs have been added since the low point from the financial crisis. Job growth is as important -- if not more important -- than overall growth, many economists argue.

"We are experiencing the longest string of consecutive monthly jobs gains in economic history," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

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