Job Growth by President: A Look at Barack Obama's Numbers

The final pre-election employment figures were released yesterday.  Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment growth of 171K and an increase in the unemployment rate from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent.  The employment figures were generally positive, and are indicative of a slowly recovering economy. With this background in mind, we can now answer the question: how well did employment growth do over the course of Obama’s presidency? And, how does it compare to recent presidential administrations? Starting first with the Jimmy Carter Administration; during the four years in which Jimmy Carter held office, employment expanded by about 10.3 million,…