Jobs growth by U.S. presidents

In January 2017, when President Donald Trump took office, the U.S. had 145.6 million nonfarm jobs. Coronavirus closures and a recession has pushed that number down to 141.7 million by September 2020


President Term 	Democrat	Republican	Recessions

Jobs: Start / end of term	Jobs added	Change (%)

1977-81 	80,690,000 	10,343,000	+12.82
Jimmy Carter 	91,033,000
1979-80: Iran Revolution – Crude oil prices almost double

1981-85 	91,033,000	5,339,000	+5.86
Ronald Reagan 	96,372,000 
1980-82: Tight monetary policy to fight inflation hits economy
      
1985-89 	96,372,000 	10,789,000	+11.20
Ronald Reagan	107,161,000
          
1989-93 	107,161,000 	2,633,000 	+2.46
H. W. Bush	109,794,000
1990-91: Oil price shock – price rises from $17 to $36 per barrel

1993-97		109,794,000	11,569,000 	+10.54
Bill Clinton	121,363,000
	
1997-01  	121,363,000 	11,335,000	+9.34
Bill Clinton	132,698,000
2001: Dot-com bubble bursts, erasing $240bn on stock market

2001-05 	132,698,000	76,000 		+0.06
George W. Bush	132,774,000       

2005-09 	132,774,000 	1,281,000	+0.96
George W. Bush 	134,055,000
2007-09: Global financial crisis – unemployment soars

2009-13 	134,055,000 	1,208,000	+0.90
Barack Obama 	135,263,000

2013-17 	135,263,000 	10,364,000	+7.66
Barack Obama 	145,627,000

2017-21		145,627,000	-3,907,000*	-2.68
Donald Trump	141,720,000	*Jan 2017-Sep 2020
2020-onwards: Global coronavirus pandemic


Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ADP 
Pictures: Associated Press 
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