So, we’ve all seen the chart that lists average jobs created per month for each President going back to Reagan. As with all data sets, context matters. To state the obvious, US economic statistics were significantly impacted by COVID-19 as dislocations caused by the pandemic virtually ensure that any time series which includes this period is likely to be skewed to some degree.
At first glance, this chart seems to illustrate that monthly job gains during the Biden years significantly outpace certain presidential figures who are considered to have excelled in their oversight of the economy (namely Reagan and Clinton). That said, the monthly job figures for Biden’s inaugural year received quite a boost given that this period coincided with the US economy’s recovery from the pandemic.
Excluding the inaugural year, this data isn’t nearly as compelling for Biden. Inclusive of the most recent September NFP report, cumulative jobs created during the Biden years remain roughly in-line with what you might expect from a presidential administration that largely coincided with a period of economic growth (i.e., one that was not hobbled by a recession).
With the exclusion the one-off boost provided by the COVID recovery year, average jobs created during the Biden Administration is closer to ~275,000/month—not nearly the impressive outlier that is presented on the chart which rates Biden favorably next to predecessors.
Please note:
1.) The above is NOT intended to present an argument to explain why one party is superior to another in their oversight of the economy
2.) Yes, I am well aware that the other side also likes to play fast and loose with the truth
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by WaltSobchakCAIA
10 comments
Thanks for throwing some sanity on to the fire.
Seriously. It is so depressing how some can use certain statistics that if examined closely would prove exactly the opposite of what is being claimed.
Hate the left and right equally. But didn’t the job losses come from Covid lock downs during the Trump administration? I got furloughed along with my while team.
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The beauty of numbers. Have you ever purchase soda which claims to have 0 sugar yet has 100s of calories?
Presidents don’t create jobs.
As a lib, yes, I hate this chart.
That said. Republicans do the same. They are currently running on the fact that Biden’s 1.9 trillion dollar infrastructure bill is as bad as Trump’s stimulus. It is 1.9 trillion over a decade. Not all at once. Trump put in the 4 trillion in 9 months. Remember that stimulus checks were held up until Trump’s signature was on the checks.
There is one congressman going around saying the infrastructure bill is THE reason we have inflation. That is absurd.
>With the exclusion the one-off boost provided by the COVID recovery year, average jobs created during the Biden Administration is closer to ~275,000/month
That would still make it the highest bar on the chart, though. So the idea that monthly job gains during Biden’s presidency outpaced those of Reagan and Clinton is still true.
Ok now go exclude the best Reagan and Clinton years.
I was just commenting on this chart elsewhere that the economy is bigger than the President and this is largely meaningless.
But to say this is “””lying””” because if you take out the best year, the numbers are worse….well no shit. The economy is volatile.
I bluet everyone’s stats look worse if you cut out their best year
Not going to lose sleep over this when people currently only view Trump’s economy only by his first two years. If Biden’s economy gets penalized by the inflation caused by COVID then Biden’s economy can take the credit for the job recovery.