- The economy grew by an annualized rate of 2.2% in real GDP in 2025 under Trump, down from 2.8% in 2024.
- This was slower than the economic growth under Biden (3.3%) which was the highest in over 50 years, primarily reflecting a post-COVID boom.
- The economy shrank by 10.8% in the first half of 2020 after the introduction of COVID-19, wiping out all increases since 2017. This was the largest retraction of the economy on record (since 1875).
- The economy contracted by 2.3% overall in 2020, resulting in 1.3% average growth under Trump's first term.
Has Trump helped the economy?
- Job gains in the first year of Trump's second term have been fairly low at 181,000 compared to over 2 million in the previous year under Biden.
- Over 16 million jobs were added under Biden, making it a record high.
- 128,000 fewer jobs per quarter were added to the US economy under Trump's first 3 years (2017-2019) than under Obama's last 3 years (2014-2016)
- Net Job Loss in 2020 was 9.4 million during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Job losses under Trump in his first term exceeded job gains during his entire administration (Net loss = 2.9 million)
Have jobs come back to America? Have jobs increased under Trump?
- Unemployment is slightly up under Trump at 4.3%
- The Unemployment rate under Biden was its lowest level since 1969, with an overall drop of 2.4%
- In Trump's first term, Unemployment was at 8.1% for 2020, increasing by 1.6% over his full term, compared to a decrease of 3.1% in unemployment under Obama.
- The Unemployment rate peaked at 14.7% in April of 2020 during COVID, higher than at any time since the Great Depression.
- Monthly Unemployment topped out at 10.8% under Reagan.
- Over the past 45 years, on average Unemployment has:
- In Democratic administrations — Improved by .46% per year
- In Republican administrations — Worsened by .29% per year
Has Trump improved employment? Who is better for employment? Do republicans improve unemployment? Did Obama have worse unemployment? Who is better for the economy?
- Inflation averaged 2.9% under Trump in 2025, down from 3.4% under Biden.
- Inflation increased to 6.2% in 2022 due to a combination of COVID-19 related supply chain issues, labor shortages and increased energy costs following Russia's invasion of the Ukraine and subsequent embargo of Russian oil.
- This high was less than average compared to the inflation rate of G-7 countries (7.8%) and all OECD countries (10.2%) at the same time.
- Inflation was at historic lows throughout the past 20 years at round 2%, while the average over the past 50 years is 3.8%
- Manufacturing jobs are down 1.4% in the first year of Trump's term, consistent with a downward trend since 2023.
- Overall, Manufacturing jobs increased by 5% under Biden, showing the overall post-COVID recovery.
- Since the Great Recession, growth in manufacturing jobs remained steady at about 1% per year, until 2020.
- 154,000 Manufacturing jobs were lost during Trump's administration (-1.5%) primarily due to job losses in 2020 under CoVID-19.
Has manufacturing grown under Trump? Has manufacturing come back?
- Since 1980, Manufacturing jobs are down by 34%
- Manufacturing jobs are down 1.4 % in Trump's first term, following an increase under Biden.
- The largest decrease in manufacturing jobs occurred during the G.W. Bush administration (2001-2008)
- Regan - 3.1 %
- Bush - 7.0 %
- Clinton + 1.9 %
- G.W. Bush -26.6 %
- Obama - 1.6 %
- Trump - 1.5%
- Biden + 5.0 %
- Trump -2 -1.4 %
- In comparison, since 1980:
- Service industry jobs have more than doubled
- Construction jobs have increased by 80% since 1980
- Today, Manufacturing provides less than 9% of all jobs in the U.S., while 86% of all jobs are Service related.
How has manufacturing changed? What jobs are growing? What has happened to manufacturing? How have service jobs grown?How have jobs changed?
Has manufacturing grown under Trump? Has manufacturing come back?
- Average hourly wages (adjusted for inflation) increased 1.4% in the first year of the Trump administration. In December of 2025, the average wage for all workers was $37/hour
- While wages increased under Biden by an average of 4.5% per year, most of these gains were wiped out by the post-COVID inflation in 2021 and 2022, resulting in a net decrease of 1.5%.
- Since 2006 inflation adjusted wages have increased by 14%
- Average wages were relatively flat from 2006 to 2012 as the economy recovered from the great recession
- They have increased steadily since 2014, until inflation following COVID-19
How has manufacturing changed? What jobs are growing? What has happened to manufacturing? How have service jobs grown?How have jobs changed?
Has manufacturing grown under Trump? Has manufacturing come back?
- The US minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour. It has not changed since 2009, although some state's have higher minimum wages.
- For a full time worker, this earns 76% of the minimum poverty level for a working parent with 1 child ($9.48/hour).
- It earns 50% of the minimum poverty level for a family of 4 ($14.42/hour).
- It earns 28% of what is needed for an average living wage for a family of 4 ($25.02/hour) which includes costs of housing, transportation, child care, education, healthcare and basic needs).
- Over 80 million workers are covered by minimum wage requirements
- Since 1980:
- The minimum wage peaked in 2009, and has steadily declined in inflaction adjusted dollars.
- It has been below the minimum poverty level for a working parent and 1 child 75% of the time, and has never provided enough earnings for a full time worker to support a family of 4.
- Some states have higher minimum wages
Some states have higher minimum wages
$7.25 - Most states
$8.00-11.00 - Alaska, Arkansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, W. Virginia
$11.01-14.00 - Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia
$14.01-17.00 - California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, District of Columbia, Washington
How has manufacturing changed? What jobs are growing? What has happened to manufacturing? How have service jobs grown?How have jobs changed?