Obama (Not Trump) Is To Credit For The Better Economy

Donald Trump likes to claim credit for the better economy. But the truth is that the only claim he can make honestly is that, at least so far, he hasn't screwed it up. The improving economy started under the presidency of Barack Obama.

The following charts and facts are from forbes.com:

Bush’s last four years in office:

• 2005: 210,000 per month or 2.52 million for the year
• 2006: 175,000 per month or 2.09 million
• 2007: 96,000 per month or 1.15 million 
  • Last six months averaged 55,000 per month
• 2008: Negative 297,000 per month (recession takes hold) 
  • Lost 3.6 million jobs

Obama’s eight years:

• 2009: Negative 422,000 per month
  • Lost 5.1 million jobs (teeth of the recession)
• 2010:  88,000 per month or 1.05 million for the year
• 2011: 174,000 per month or 2.09 million
• 2012: 179,000 per month or 2.14 million
• 2013: 192,000 per month or 2.3 million
• 2014: 250,000 per month or 3 million
• 2015: 226,000 per month or 2.7 million
• 2016: 187,000 per month or 2.24 million

Trump’s through September:

• 2017: 182,000 per month or 2.19 million
• Through September 2018: 208,000 per month or 2.5 million run rate

Bush’s last four years in office:

• December 2005: 4.9%
• December 2006: 4.4%, decreased 0.5%
• December 2007: 5.0%, increased 0.6%
• December 2008: 7.3%, increased 2.3%

Obama’s time in office

• December 2009: 9.9%, increased 2.6%(teeth of the recession)
• December 2010: 9.3%, decreased 0.6%
• December 2011: 8.5%, decreased 0.8%
• December 2012: 7.9%, decreased 0.6%
• December 2013: 6.7%, decreased 1.2%
• December 2014: 5.6%, decreased 1.1%
• December 2015: 5.0%, decreased 0.6%
• December 2016: 4.7%, decreased 0.3%

Trump’s through September:

• December 2017: 4.1%, decreased 0.6%
• September 2018: 3.7%, decreased 0.4%