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President Carter distinguished himself as an exceptional job creator, and the fact he did it all in one single term makes the feat even that much more impressive. The data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that he created 9.8 million jobs from 1977-1981, ranking third among all presidents in total jobs created and adding approximately 211,000 jobs per month on average. What's even more impressive about President Carter's job creation run is the economic environment in which he was doing all of this, as it was marked by both steady progress and challenges similar to today. In his first two-and-a-half years, unemployment steadily declined, reflecting strong initial performance identical to President Clinton and, most recently, President Biden, who saw a decrease from 6.4% to 4.1%. The current unemployment rate in the United States is 4.2% for November 2024, a slight uptick from last month. But, being the USA, not everything can be rosy for very long. In 1979, an energy crisis (triggered by the Iranian Revolution, where the global oil supply decreased by approximately 4%) drove unemployment to close to 8%, testing the short period of his administration. Despite this event (and many others), Carter maintained his heralded job growth numbers, notably where employment grew by nearly 1.3% from January to April 1977. |
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Jimmy Carter's job creation is impressive and aligns with the broader trend of Democratic presidents, who have consistently outperformed their Republican counterparts in employment growth despite however much the GOP claims they've created. Between 1945 and 2023, Democratic administrations collectively generated 69.9 million jobs, nearly double the 39.6 million created under Republican leadership. This isn't political; it's numbers, and ultimately, it translates to Democrats creating jobs 75% faster over the same period. Carter's tenure demonstrates this trend to a T, leading us to speculate about the future of President-elect Trump and the job market in the future. |