The Democrats' best card
Clinton −3.1 pts
From 7.3% to 4.2%, January 1993 to January 2001.
The chart they hide: Carter 0.0 pts
AI illustrationUnemployment
Who really fixed unemployment? Every president since Truman
Both parties claim the jobless rate as their trophy. The monthly record since 1948 tells a messier story, and neither side likes all of it.
- of the labor force · September 2026
- 4.2%
- vs. a year ago
- −0.2 pts
- Record high · April 2020
- 14.8%
- Record low · May 1953
- 2.5%
The whole story, month by month
Democrats vs. Republicans
Democrats−0.3 ptsper year in office, over 37 years and 7 presidencies
Republicans+0.3 ptsper year in office, over 42 years and 8 presidencies
Both sides have a chart to wave
The Republicans' best card
Reagan −2.1 pts
From 7.5% to 5.4%, January 1981 to January 1989.
The chart they hide: Eisenhower +3.7 pts
Every president, ranked
Change in percentage points during each term. Best to worst.
- Clinton−3.1 pts
- Obama−3.1 pts
- Biden−2.4 pts
- Johnson−2.3 pts
- Reagan−2.1 pts
- Kennedy−0.9 pts
- Truman−0.5 pts
- Carter0.0 pts
- Trump II (so far)+0.2 pts
- Trump I+1.7 pts
- G.H.W. Bush+1.9 pts
- Ford+2.0 pts
- Nixon+2.1 pts
- G.W. Bush+3.6 pts
- Eisenhower+3.7 pts
Why this number starts fights
A low jobless rate is the easiest brag in politics, and a high one ends careers. The 2020 spike came with the pandemic, so any term touching it looks extreme in both directions. The rate also leaves out people who stopped looking for work, which both sides point to when the number does not suit them.
How to read it without getting played
No president controls this number alone. Congress, the Federal Reserve, global markets, wars, pandemics and the economy they inherited all move it. A term's score shows what happened on their watch, not what they caused. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling a side.
Method: the reading in the month a president took office compared with the reading in the month the term ended. The party figure adds up its terms and divides by its years in office.
More numbers people fight about
Jobs159.0 million+0.5 million vs. a year agononfarm payrolls · September 2026Real wages$370−1.6% vs. a year agomedian weekly pay, 1982-84 $ · September 2026Inflation3.7%+0.7 pts vs. a year agoCPI, past 12 months · September 2026GDP growth2.2%−0.6 pts vs. a year agoreal growth per year · December 2025
Show the yearly table
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4.2% |
| 2025 | 4.4% |
| 2024 | 4.1% |
| 2023 | 3.8% |
| 2022 | 3.5% |
| 2021 | 3.9% |
| 2020 | 6.7% |
| 2019 | 3.6% |
| 2018 | 3.9% |
| 2017 | 4.1% |
| 2016 | 4.7% |
| 2015 | 5.0% |
| 2014 | 5.6% |
| 2013 | 6.7% |
| 2012 | 7.9% |
| 2011 | 8.5% |
| 2010 | 9.3% |
| 2009 | 9.9% |
| 2008 | 7.3% |
| 2007 | 5.0% |
| 2006 | 4.4% |
| 2005 | 4.9% |
| 2004 | 5.4% |
| 2003 | 5.7% |
| 2002 | 6.0% |
| 2001 | 5.7% |
| 2000 | 3.9% |
| 1999 | 4.0% |
| 1998 | 4.4% |
| 1997 | 4.7% |
| 1996 | 5.4% |
| 1995 | 5.6% |
| 1994 | 5.5% |
| 1993 | 6.5% |
| 1992 | 7.4% |
| 1991 | 7.3% |
| 1990 | 6.3% |
| 1989 | 5.4% |
| 1988 | 5.3% |
| 1987 | 5.7% |
| 1986 | 6.6% |
| 1985 | 7.0% |
| 1984 | 7.3% |
| 1983 | 8.3% |
| 1982 | 10.8% |
| 1981 | 8.5% |
| 1980 | 7.2% |
| 1979 | 6.0% |
| 1978 | 6.0% |
| 1977 | 6.4% |
| 1976 | 7.8% |
| 1975 | 8.2% |
| 1974 | 7.2% |
| 1973 | 4.9% |
| 1972 | 5.2% |
| 1971 | 6.0% |
| 1970 | 6.1% |
| 1969 | 3.5% |
| 1968 | 3.4% |
| 1967 | 3.8% |
| 1966 | 3.8% |
| 1965 | 4.0% |
| 1964 | 5.0% |
| 1963 | 5.5% |
| 1962 | 5.5% |
| 1961 | 6.0% |
| 1960 | 6.6% |
| 1959 | 5.3% |
| 1958 | 6.2% |
| 1957 | 5.2% |
| 1956 | 4.2% |
| 1955 | 4.2% |
| 1954 | 5.0% |
| 1953 | 4.5% |
| 1952 | 2.7% |
| 1951 | 3.1% |
| 1950 | 4.3% |
| 1949 | 6.6% |
| 1948 | 4.0% |