"Donald Trump said during the first US presidential debate with Joe Biden that his administration “built the greatest economy in history,” a statement he has often made to support his case for a second term in the White House.
AFP Fact Check examines the numbers.
Did Trump create the ‘greatest economy?’ Gross domestic product and job numbers are the main measures of US economic health. Trump has touted both, as well as chart-topping stock prices, as proof of his success. But his claims are misleading.In Trump’s favor, US unemployment hit a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in December 2019. In January this year, however, before states imposed lockdowns to try and contain the coronavirus, the Labor Department issued an update that was less positive; revised numbers showed job growth slowed significantly in the first three years of Trump’s presidency.
Some 6.5 million jobs were added between 2017 and 2019 -- 2.109m, 2.314m (in 2018, Trump’s best year) and 2.096m. This compared to more than eight million jobs -- 3.004m, 2.72m and 2.345m -- in the three prior years, under Barack Obama.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Growth measured by GDP has not set records under Trump. The best year of his presidency saw a three-percent rise in 2018, compared to 3.1 percent in 2015 under Obama. As recently as 2004 and 2005, under president George W. Bush, the economy grew 3.8 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. None of these three presidents have run close to reaching a historic high; the 1950s and 1960s saw years when growth was more than five percent annually.
Stock Market
When percentage growth during Trump’s tenure is compared with Obama’s, however, a very different picture emerges. Obama inherited a market in the depths of the global financial crisis. The Dow Jones was at 7,949.09 points. By the start of his second term in 2013 it had risen to 13,649.70. When he left office the index had registered an overall cumulative growth of 148.3 percent over eight years. In Trump’s single term as president the Dow Jones grew 56 percent. "
Quention. Where is the mess that Obama left behind?
