The average annual unemployment rate under Truman's presidency was about 4.24%. He was tasked with transitioning the economy after World War II without creating a major recession.
While unemployment rose to 7.9% in October 1949 because of a mild post-war recession, it quickly fell and remained under 3% through the rest of Truman's term.
The average annual unemployment rate under Eisenhower was 4.93%. The economy went through three recessions during his two terms, but then remained relatively strong through the '50s.
However, unemployment rose to 6.6% by the end of Eisenhower’s term in 1961 because of a recession that began in 1960.
JFK's average annual unemployment rate was 5.96%. Unemployment was high from the previous administration, hovering at 6.9% when Kennedy took office.
The average annual unemployment rate under Johnson's presidency was 4.18%, the lowest so far.
Johnson's Great Society programs, which included job training, a work-study program for college students, help for parents re-entering the workforce, and loans to employers to hire workers, helped boost the economy.
The average annual unemployment rate under Nixon's time in office was 5.03%. Inflation had started to increase in the late '60s, and Nixon wanted to decrease inflation without sending the economy into a recession.
However, his economic policies led to a decade of stagflation, a period of high unemployment levels and high inflation. Unemployment levels had climbed up to 5.5% by the time Nixon resigned in 1974.
Ford inherited an economy battling stagflation and a recession that began in 1973. This is why his average annual unemployment rate was 7.76%, the highest to this day.
Ford did cut taxes and reduced regulation to stabilize the economy. While this ended the recession, inflation still remained elevated.
The average annual unemployment rate under Carter's administration was 6.54%. Stagflation continued, but the unemployment rate slowly declined in the first half of his term.
Carter had Congress pass an Economic Stimulus Appropriations Act to boost the economy and create jobs. While this helped, inflation soared to double-digits due to an energy crisis in the Middle East, which led to gas shortages and rising prices.
With an average annual unemployment rate of 7.51%, Reagan took office when the economy went into recession in 1981.
Unemployment, which was already elevated since Carter’s term, continued to rise and soared to a record of 10.8% by the end of 1982. Reagan's economic policies did, however, reduce unemployment, which fell below 6% in the late '80s.
The average annual unemployment rate under Bush Sr.'s presidency was 6.34%. Unemployment rose steadily during his time in office, and he faced the fallout from the Savings and Loan Crisis. This led to a recession from 1990 to 1991.
In July 1992, unemployment rose to nearly 8%, and that same month, Bush signed the Unemployment Compensation Amendments, which extended unemployment benefits for an additional 26 weeks after the first 26 weeks.
Unemployment levels declined steadily during his time in office, and the economy didn't experience any major recessions or wars.
The average annual unemployment rate under Clinton's presidency was 5.17%.
The average annual unemployment rate during Bush's two terms was 5.31%. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 Great Recession all happened during his presidency.
While unemployment was low at the start of Bush's term, it rose to nearly 8% at the end of it, making it the most severe recession since the Great Depression.
The average annual unemployment rate during Obama's presidency was 7.41%. He took office in the midst of the Great Recession, and unemployment continued to rise, hitting 10% in October 2009.
In 2009, Obama passed the US$831 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to end the recession, stimulate the economy, and help the job market recover. The unemployment rate went down to 4.6% in 2016 at the end of his presidency.
The average annual unemployment rate under Trump's time in office was 5.04%. Unemployment remained low at the beginning of his term. However, the economy went into a severe recession at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and unemployment skyrocketed to a record high of about 14.7% in April 2020.
While businesses struggled amid the pandemic, unemployment slowly came back down under 10% toward the end of Trump's term.
The average annual unemployment rate under Biden's first term is 4.11%. In 2021, the president signed a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, the American Rescue Plan Act, to help people and businesses recover from COVID-19.
While unemployment dropped, inflation began to rise in 2022, leading the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to combat this rise.
Sources: (Investopedia) (MSNBC) (Washington Post)
From tax cuts and increases to federal aid, a president's economic policies can affect many aspects of the economy, including the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is viewed as an indicator not just of the health of the overall economy or the percentage of people who aren't employed, but also as a measure of the success of a presidency. Yearly average unemployment data has been calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) since 1948, giving us an insight into the US unemployment rate since President Harry S. Truman's third year in office.
To discover which presidents had the highest and which had the lowest, click through the gallery.
From Harry S. Truman to Joe Biden : The unemployment rates under each US president revealed
Discover which presidents had the highest and which had the lowest
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From tax cuts and increases to federal aid, a president's economic policies can affect many aspects of the economy, including the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is viewed as an indicator not just of the health of the overall economy or the percentage of people who aren't employed, but also as a measure of the success of a presidency. Yearly average unemployment data has been calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) since 1948, giving us an insight into the US unemployment rate since President Harry S. Truman's third year in office.
To discover which presidents had the highest and which had the lowest, click through the gallery.