Presidents often point to the number of new jobs created under their presidency as an indicator of their success. However, the relative size of the total workforce during a presidency may be an even better indicator into how the new jobs created are affecting the workforce.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bill Clinton leads all other presidents in new jobs created under his presidency with nearly 19 million new jobs created between 1993-2001. Ronald Reagan comes in a close second with 16.5 million new jobs created between 1981-1989. However, the jobs created under Reagan were a larger chunk of the total workforce during his presidency when compared to Clinton’s presidency, with 15.4 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively.
Presidents who created the most jobs were predictably two-term presidents, however Jimmy Carter created the third-most jobs of all presidents with 9.8 million created in just one term between 1977-1981. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served a record three terms before dying in office, created the most jobs relative to the total workforce during his presidency at 17 percent.
