Every president since Reagan, side by side, from official data.
Unemployment rate in the month before each term and in its last month, on one scale for every line. Each line spans four years; the last stops at September 2026.One scale for every line. The last line stops at September 2026.
Choose a term to mark it in the chart below. is marked in the chart below. Go to the chart
What this record is
Every presidential term since Reagan, in date order, with one measure: the unemployment rate. Each screen below asks one more question about the same terms, with one chart and its source.
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How to read a line
Reagan 1: the rate was 7.5% in Jan 1981, the month before the term began, and 7.3% in Jan 1985, its last month.Reagan 1: the rate was 7.5% in Jan 1981, the month before the term began, and 7.3% in Jan 1985, its last month.Reagan 2: the rate was 7.3% in Jan 1985, the month before the term began, and 5.4% in Jan 1989, its last month.Bush (H.W.): the rate was 5.4% in Jan 1989, the month before the term began, and 7.3% in Jan 1993, its last month.Clinton 1: the rate was 7.3% in Jan 1993, the month before the term began, and 5.3% in Jan 1997, its last month.Clinton 2: the rate was 5.3% in Jan 1997, the month before the term began, and 4.2% in Jan 2001, its last month.Bush (W.) 1: the rate was 4.2% in Jan 2001, the month before the term began, and 5.3% in Jan 2005, its last month.Bush (W.) 2: the rate was 5.3% in Jan 2005, the month before the term began, and 7.8% in Jan 2009, its last month.Obama 1: the rate was 7.8% in Jan 2009, the month before the term began, and 8.0% in Jan 2013, its last month.Obama 2: the rate was 8.0% in Jan 2013, the month before the term began, and 4.7% in Jan 2017, its last month.Trump 1: the rate was 4.7% in Jan 2017, the month before the term began, and 6.4% in Jan 2021, its last month.Biden: the rate was 6.4% in Jan 2021, the month before the term began, and 4.0% in Jan 2025, its last month.Trump 2: the rate was 4.0% in Jan 2025, the month before the term began, and 4.2% in Sep 2026, the latest month published. The slope joins the two, on one scale for every line.
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Mark a term
Tap or click a term to mark it. Every chart below then shows that term in teal, and the button in the top bar changes it. Try it here: this step follows your mark. The line lit now is Reagan 1’s.The line lit now is Reagan 1’s.The line lit now is Reagan 2’s.The line lit now is Bush (H.W.)’s.The line lit now is Clinton 1’s.The line lit now is Clinton 2’s.The line lit now is Bush (W.) 1’s.The line lit now is Bush (W.) 2’s.The line lit now is Obama 1’s.The line lit now is Obama 2’s.The line lit now is Trump 1’s.The line lit now is Biden’s.The line lit now is Trump 2’s.
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Lines to read with care
Clinton 1: the survey changed during the term. The note under the unemployment chart says how.
Trump 2 is still running, so its line stops at Sep 2026, the latest month published.
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Up or down, line by line
We count each line from its start to its end. Higher at the end in 6 terms, lower at the end in 6 terms.
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What the record can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. Each screen below says where its numbers come from and how we counted them.
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Did unemployment go up or down?
Each bar is the unemployment rate in a term’s last month, minus the rate in the month before it began (January counts for the president leaving office).
Went up in 6 terms, went down in 6 terms.
Change in the unemployment rate in each term, in percentage points.
Reagan 1: from 7.5% in Jan 1981 to 7.3% in Jan 1985 is a change of −0.2.Reagan 1: from 7.5% in Jan 1981 to 7.3% in Jan 1985 is a change of −0.2.Reagan 2: from 7.3% in Jan 1985 to 5.4% in Jan 1989 is a change of −1.9.Bush (H.W.): from 5.4% in Jan 1989 to 7.3% in Jan 1993 is a change of +1.9.Clinton 1: from 7.3% in Jan 1993 to 5.3% in Jan 1997 is a change of −2.0.Clinton 2: from 5.3% in Jan 1997 to 4.2% in Jan 2001 is a change of −1.1.Bush (W.) 1: from 4.2% in Jan 2001 to 5.3% in Jan 2005 is a change of +1.1.Bush (W.) 2: from 5.3% in Jan 2005 to 7.8% in Jan 2009 is a change of +2.5.Obama 1: from 7.8% in Jan 2009 to 8.0% in Jan 2013 is a change of +0.2.Obama 2: from 8.0% in Jan 2013 to 4.7% in Jan 2017 is a change of −3.3.Trump 1: from 4.7% in Jan 2017 to 6.4% in Jan 2021 is a change of +1.7.Biden: from 6.4% in Jan 2021 to 4.0% in Jan 2025 is a change of −2.4.Trump 2: from 4.0% in Jan 2025 to 4.2% in Sep 2026 is a change of +0.2. Rate: people out of work and looking for work, as a share of the labor force. Measure: Unemployment rate (U-3, official headline), ages 16 and over, seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (Current Population Survey), series LNS14000000.
Clinton 1: the survey changed in January 1994, inside this term. BLS says a test of the new survey “averaged 0.5 percentage point higher than the rate from the CPS ... BLS will not, however, use the parallel survey data to reissue official estimates.” So this term’s start and end come from two versions of the survey.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar is the rate in a term’s last month minus the rate in the month before it began. January counts for the president leaving office, so a term’s own months run from February of its first year to January four years later. For the term still running, the last month is the latest month published.
BLS has published this series every month since 1948.
Months with no value
- October 2025 (Trump 2): no value was published, and no number here uses that month; nothing is filled in. BLS: “Household survey data from the Current Population Survey were not collected for the October 2025 reference period.”
Other changes BLS made to this survey (BLS kept one series through each)
- January 2003: “Revisions to the Current Population Survey Effective in January 2003, including new questions on race and Hispanic ethnicity, updated population controls, and new occupational and industry classifications”
- 2004, 2014 and 2025 (sample redesigns): “2025 redesign of the Current Population Survey sample ... 2014 redesign of the Current Population Survey sample ... 2004 redesign of the Current Population Survey sample”
- January 2025 (new controls every January): “historical data will not be revised to incorporate the new controls ... will not be directly comparable with data for December 2024 or earlier periods”
Recessions
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What this chart asks
The unemployment rate is the share of people who want a job and are looking for one but have none. Each bar shows how far that share moved during one term, up or down.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1: from 7.5% in Jan 1981 to 7.3% in Jan 1985 is a change of −0.2.Reagan 1: from 7.5% in Jan 1981 to 7.3% in Jan 1985 is a change of −0.2.Reagan 2: from 7.3% in Jan 1985 to 5.4% in Jan 1989 is a change of −1.9.Bush (H.W.): from 5.4% in Jan 1989 to 7.3% in Jan 1993 is a change of +1.9.Clinton 1: from 7.3% in Jan 1993 to 5.3% in Jan 1997 is a change of −2.0.Clinton 2: from 5.3% in Jan 1997 to 4.2% in Jan 2001 is a change of −1.1.Bush (W.) 1: from 4.2% in Jan 2001 to 5.3% in Jan 2005 is a change of +1.1.Bush (W.) 2: from 5.3% in Jan 2005 to 7.8% in Jan 2009 is a change of +2.5.Obama 1: from 7.8% in Jan 2009 to 8.0% in Jan 2013 is a change of +0.2.Obama 2: from 8.0% in Jan 2013 to 4.7% in Jan 2017 is a change of −3.3.Trump 1: from 4.7% in Jan 2017 to 6.4% in Jan 2021 is a change of +1.7.Biden: from 6.4% in Jan 2021 to 4.0% in Jan 2025 is a change of −2.4.Trump 2: from 4.0% in Jan 2025 to 4.2% in Sep 2026 is a change of +0.2. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the rate at its start and end with their months, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates). The recession row gives dates only.
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Terms to read with care
Clinton 1: the survey changed during the term, so its start and end come from two versions of it. The note under the chart quotes BLS.
Trump 2 is still running, so its bar is striped and runs only to Sep 2026, the latest month.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. Went up in 6 terms, went down in 6 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, sets out the rule in full and every change BLS made to the survey.
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How fast did grocery prices rise?
Each bar shows how fast grocery prices rose in a term, as an average per year, from the month before it began to its last month.
Prices rose in 12 terms.
Rise in grocery prices in each term, in % a year.
Reagan 1: from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 11.5% in all, which is 2.8% a year.Reagan 1: from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 11.5% in all, which is 2.8% a year.Reagan 2: from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 16.5% in all, which is 3.9% a year.Bush (H.W.): from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 14.8% in all, which is 3.5% a year.Clinton 1: from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 13.5% in all, which is 3.2% a year.Clinton 2: from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 8.5% in all, which is 2.1% a year.Bush (W.) 1: from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 10.3% in all, which is 2.5% a year.Bush (W.) 2: from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 16.3% in all, which is 3.9% a year.Obama 1: from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 6.6% in all, which is 1.6% a year.Obama 2: from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 1.3% in all, which is 0.3% a year.Trump 1: from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 6.2% in all, which is 1.5% a year.Biden: from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 23.3% in all, which is 5.4% a year.Trump 2: from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 3.4% in all, which is 2.1% a year. Measure: CPI-U food at home (groceries), US city average, not seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U), series CUUR0000SAF11. Meals out and all prices come from the same source, series CUUR0000SEFV and CUUR0000SA0.
Clinton 2: in 1999, inside this term, BLS changed how it averages the prices of similar goods, a change it lists as “Began using a geometric mean formula for most basic indexes.” BLS kept one series. So this term’s months mix the old way and the new one.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar compares grocery prices in a term’s last month with the month before the term began. January counts for the president leaving office. So a term’s own months run from February of its first year to January four years later, and the term still running ends with the latest month published. The bar spreads that change evenly over the years, as one steady yearly rise. A short term and a full one are then on the same scale.
We use the version of the index before seasonal adjustment, because BLS doesn’t revise it after it’s published. BLS has published it monthly since 1947.
Months with no value
- October 2025 (Trump 2): no value was published, and no number here uses that month; nothing is filled in. BLS: “BLS could not collect October 2025 reference period survey data. Survey data for commodities and services were carried forward to October 2025 from September 2025. November 2025 indexes were calculated by comparing the collected November 2025 prices with the carried-forward October 2025 prices.”
Other changes BLS made to this index (BLS kept one series through each)
- 1987 (fifth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1982–84 Consumer Expenditure Survey and the 1980 Census”
- 1998 (sixth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1993–95 Consumer Expenditure Survey”
- 2002: “Implemented biennial weight updates”
- 2023: “Implemented annual weight updates”
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Other measures in the same terms
All food adds meals out to groceries. World food prices are the World Bank’s index of food sold on world markets, in US dollars. They aren’t US shop prices. They’re counted by calendar year, from the year before a term began to its last year, as an average per year.
| Term | All food, % a year | World food prices, % a year |
|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | +3.4% | −4.6% |
| Reagan 2 | +3.9% | −0.4% |
| Bush (H.W.) | +3.4% | −1.8% |
| Clinton 1 | +2.9% | +6.0% |
| Clinton 2 | +2.2% | −8.9% |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +2.6% | +7.9% |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +3.8% | +15.2% |
| Obama 1 | +1.8% | +2.6% |
| Obama 2 | +1.2% | −7.8% |
| Trump 1 | +2.2% | +1.0% |
| Biden | +5.5% | +5.6% |
| Trump 2so far | +2.8%to Aug 2026 | −5.7%to 2025 |
Where these come from: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U), series CUUR0000SAF1; World Bank, Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet), annual.
What this chart asks
Grocery prices here are the prices of food bought in stores to eat at home. Each bar shows how fast they rose or fell during one term, as an average per year, so a short term and a full one share one scale.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1: from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 11.5% in all, which is 2.8% a year.Reagan 1: from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 11.5% in all, which is 2.8% a year.Reagan 2: from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 16.5% in all, which is 3.9% a year.Bush (H.W.): from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 14.8% in all, which is 3.5% a year.Clinton 1: from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 13.5% in all, which is 3.2% a year.Clinton 2: from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 8.5% in all, which is 2.1% a year.Bush (W.) 1: from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 10.3% in all, which is 2.5% a year.Bush (W.) 2: from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 16.3% in all, which is 3.9% a year.Obama 1: from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 6.6% in all, which is 1.6% a year.Obama 2: from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 1.3% in all, which is 0.3% a year.Trump 1: from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 6.2% in all, which is 1.5% a year.Biden: from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 23.3% in all, which is 5.4% a year.Trump 2: from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, grocery prices (food bought in stores to eat at home) rose 3.4% in all, which is 2.1% a year. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the change over the whole term with its two months, the same yearly rate for meals out and for all prices, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates).
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Terms to read with care
Clinton 2: BLS changed how it computes the index during the term, so its months mix two methods. The note under the chart quotes BLS.
Trump 2 is still running, so its bar is striped and runs only to Aug 2026, the latest month.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. Prices rose in 12 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule in full, the months with no value and each change BLS made.
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How fast did consumer prices rise?
Each bar shows inflation in a term: how fast the prices people pay for goods and services rose, as an average per year.
Prices rose in 12 terms.
Rise in consumer prices in each term, in % a year.
Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 2: consumer prices rose 14.8% from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, an average of 3.5% a year.Bush (H.W.): consumer prices rose 17.8% from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, an average of 4.2% a year.Clinton 1: consumer prices rose 11.6% from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, an average of 2.8% a year.Clinton 2: consumer prices rose 10.1% from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, an average of 2.4% a year.Bush (W.) 1: consumer prices rose 8.9% from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, an average of 2.2% a year.Bush (W.) 2: consumer prices rose 10.7% from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, an average of 2.6% a year.Obama 1: consumer prices rose 9.1% from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, an average of 2.2% a year.Obama 2: consumer prices rose 5.5% from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, an average of 1.3% a year.Trump 1: consumer prices rose 7.7% from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, an average of 1.9% a year.Biden: consumer prices rose 21.4% from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, an average of 5.0% a year.Trump 2: consumer prices rose 5.4% from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, an average of 3.4% a year. Measure: CPI-U all items, US city average, not seasonally adjusted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U), series CUUR0000SA0.
Reagan 1: during this term, BLS began to price the housing of people who own their home in a new way. Its words: “Introduced rental equivalence concept in January 1983 for the CPI-U and in January 1985 for the CPI-W.” The index stayed one series, so this term’s months mix both methods.
Clinton 2: in 1999, during this term, BLS began to average the prices of similar goods in a new way. Its words: “Began using a geometric mean formula for most basic indexes.” The index stayed one series, so this term’s months mix both methods.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar compares the price index in a term’s last month with its value in the month before the term began. January counts for the president leaving office. A term’s own months run from February of its first year to January four years later. The term still running ends with the latest month BLS has published. The bar turns that change into one steady rise per year, so a short term and a full one use the same scale.
The index here is the version before seasonal adjustment. BLS doesn’t revise it after it’s published. It covers what people in towns and cities pay for food, housing, fuel, transport, health care and other goods and services. BLS has published it monthly since 1913.
Months with no value
- October 2025 (Trump 2): BLS published no value for this month. No number here uses it, and nothing is filled in. BLS: “BLS could not collect October 2025 reference period survey data. Survey data for commodities and services were carried forward to October 2025 from September 2025. November 2025 indexes were calculated by comparing the collected November 2025 prices with the carried-forward October 2025 prices.”
Other changes BLS made to this index (it stayed one series through each)
- 1987 (fifth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1982–84 Consumer Expenditure Survey and the 1980 Census”
- 1998 (sixth comprehensive revision): “Based weights on the 1993–95 Consumer Expenditure Survey”
- 2002: “Implemented biennial weight updates ... Added the C-CPI-U in August”
- 2023: “Implemented annual weight updates”
- April and June 2025: “In April, BLS suspended CPI data collection entirely in Lincoln, NE, and Provo, UT. In June, BLS suspended collection entirely in Buffalo, NY. ... These actions have minimal impact on the overall all-items CPI-U and CPI-W indexes”
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What this chart asks
Inflation is the rise in consumer prices: the prices of all the goods and services people buy. Each bar shows how fast they rose or fell during one term, as an average per year, so a short term and a full one share one scale.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 1: consumer prices rose 21.3% from Jan 1981 to Jan 1985, an average of 4.9% a year.Reagan 2: consumer prices rose 14.8% from Jan 1985 to Jan 1989, an average of 3.5% a year.Bush (H.W.): consumer prices rose 17.8% from Jan 1989 to Jan 1993, an average of 4.2% a year.Clinton 1: consumer prices rose 11.6% from Jan 1993 to Jan 1997, an average of 2.8% a year.Clinton 2: consumer prices rose 10.1% from Jan 1997 to Jan 2001, an average of 2.4% a year.Bush (W.) 1: consumer prices rose 8.9% from Jan 2001 to Jan 2005, an average of 2.2% a year.Bush (W.) 2: consumer prices rose 10.7% from Jan 2005 to Jan 2009, an average of 2.6% a year.Obama 1: consumer prices rose 9.1% from Jan 2009 to Jan 2013, an average of 2.2% a year.Obama 2: consumer prices rose 5.5% from Jan 2013 to Jan 2017, an average of 1.3% a year.Trump 1: consumer prices rose 7.7% from Jan 2017 to Jan 2021, an average of 1.9% a year.Biden: consumer prices rose 21.4% from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025, an average of 5.0% a year.Trump 2: consumer prices rose 5.4% from Jan 2025 to Aug 2026, an average of 3.4% a year. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the change in prices over the whole term with its two months, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates).
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Terms to read with care
Reagan 1 and Clinton 2: BLS changed how it builds the index during each of these terms. The notes under the chart quote BLS.
Trump 2 is still running, so its striped bar runs only to Aug 2026, the latest month.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. Prices rose in 12 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule in full, the months with no value and each change BLS made.
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Did poverty and hunger go up or down?
Each bar is a share in a term’s last year, minus the same share in the year before it began.
People in poverty: went up in 5 terms, went down in 7 terms.
Households short of food: went up in 2 terms, went down in 3 terms, measured in part in 1 term, no bar in 6 terms.
People in poverty
Households short of food
Each term’s change in people in poverty and in households short of food, in percentage points.
Reagan 1, people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1980 to 14.4% in 1984 is a change of +1.4.Reagan 1, people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1980 to 14.4% in 1984 is a change of +1.4.Reagan 2, people in poverty: from 14.4% in 1984 to 13.0% in 1988 is a change of −1.4.Bush (H.W.), people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1988 to 14.8% in 1992 is a change of +1.8.Clinton 1, people in poverty: from 14.8% in 1992 to 13.7% in 1996 is a change of −1.1.Clinton 2, people in poverty: from 13.7% in 1996 to 11.3% in 2000 is a change of −2.4.Bush (W.) 1, people in poverty: from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004 is a change of +1.4.Bush (W.) 2, people in poverty: from 12.7% in 2004 to 13.2% in 2008 is a change of +0.5.Obama 1, people in poverty: from 13.2% in 2008 to 15.0% in 2012 is a change of +1.8.Obama 2, people in poverty: −0.5 from 2012 to 2013, then −2.1 from 2013 to 2016.Trump 1, people in poverty: −0.4 from 2016 to 2017, then −0.8 from 2017 to 2020.Biden, people in poverty: from 11.5% in 2020 to 10.7% in 2024 is a change of −0.8.Trump 2, people in poverty, so far: from 10.7% in 2024 to 10.2% in 2025 is a change of −0.5. Measures: Official poverty rate, people below the poverty line (redesigned questions, updated processing system, 2017-2025); Households that were food insecure at some time during the year (USDA ERS). Source: for poverty, US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC); for the other count, US Census Bureau with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Supplemental Poverty Measure, from the CPS ASEC); for food, USDA Economic Research Service (data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement).
Reagan 1: Census changed the poverty definition inside this term, in 1981 (Census footnote 19; report P60-133, page 5), and kept one series. Census: “The combined effect of the three modifications on the poverty population is quite small ... The total number of poor persons is 29.3 million under the current definition and 29.6 million under the new one; the poverty rate goes from 13.0 to 13.2 percent.” So this term’s start and end use two versions of the definition.
Obama 2: Census changed its income questions with the 2013 data (2014 survey). It published that year both ways. So this term has two bars that are never joined, 2012 to 2013 on the old questions and 2013 to 2016 on the new ones.
Trump 1: Census changed how it processes the survey with the 2017 data. It published that year both ways. So this term has two bars that are never joined, 2016 to 2017 on the old system and 2017 to 2020 on the new one.
Trump 2: On 20 Sep 2025, USDA “announced the termination of future Household Food Security Reports”. The last year in its yearly series is 2024.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar is a share in a term’s last year minus the same share in the year before it began. Both counts are made once a year. Each year counts for the president in office for most of it, so the year a new president takes office counts for the new president. For the running term, the last year is the latest one published. If a count changed its method inside a term, that term gets one bar or number per version, in time order. They are never joined.
Poverty here means living in a family whose income before taxes is below the official poverty line. That line depends on family size. It rises with prices every year. The other count is the Supplemental Poverty Measure, a second count by Census. It adds tax credits and help such as food stamps to income, and takes away taxes and costs such as medical bills and the cost of getting to work. The other count changed its method more than once. A term that crosses a change shows one number per version, in time order.
Short of food means that at times during the year, a household couldn’t get enough food for everyone because it lacked money. USDA calls this food insecurity. Ate less is the share of households where people ate less at times because money was short. USDA calls this very low food security.
Census has published the official poverty rate every year since 1959, and the supplemental measure since 2009. USDA’s yearly December food survey ran from 2001 to 2024. USDA also ran the survey in the years just before, but in other months of the year. USDA says the time of year changes the share it finds. Its trend file starts in 2001.
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Changes Census and USDA made to these counts
- 1987 and 1988 (Census footnote 16): “Estimates reflect the implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system and are also revised to reflect corrections to the files after publication of the 1988 advance report”.
- 1993 (Census footnote 13): “Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing.”
- 2001 (ERS technical paper "Impact of Survey Season on Food Security Prevalence"): USDA: “Starting in 2001, the Food Security Supplement will be fielded annually in early December.”
- 2009: Census: “In 2009, the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) created a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) to replace previous experimental poverty measures.”
- 2013 data (2014 survey): Census: “The 2014 CPS ASEC utilized a probability split panel design to test a redesigned set of income questions.”
- 2017 data: Census: “Implementation of an updated CPS ASEC processing system.”
- 2019 data: Census: “For each survey and methodological change, there is a break in the SPM series (2013, 2017, 2019). At each break, consecutive years are no longer comparable.”
Each series, and where it is in the agency’s tables
- Official poverty rate, people below the poverty line (old income questions, 1959-2013). Table 2, block All Races, All people, Below poverty, Percent; the 2013 row with footnote 6 (old income questions).
- Official poverty rate, people below the poverty line (redesigned income questions, previous processing system, 2013-2017). Table 2, block All Races, All people, Below poverty, Percent; the 2013 row with footnote 5 (redesigned questions) and the 2017 row with no footnote (previous processing system).
- Official poverty rate, people below the poverty line (redesigned questions, updated processing system, 2017-2025). Table 2, block All Races, All people, Below poverty, Percent; the 2013 row with footnote 5 and the 2017 row with footnote 4 (updated processing system); kept years 2017 onward.
- Supplemental Poverty Measure rate, 2009-2013 (old income questions, previous processing, original 2011 method). Table 8, block ALL RACES, All People, Below Poverty, Percent; the 2013 row with footnote 8 (old income questions).
- Supplemental Poverty Measure rate, 2013-2017 (redesigned income questions, previous processing, original 2011 method). Table 8, block ALL RACES, All People, Below Poverty, Percent; the 2013 row with footnote 7 (redesigned questions) and the 2017 row with no footnote.
- Supplemental Poverty Measure rate, 2017-2019 (updated processing, original 2011 method). Table 8, block ALL RACES, All People, Below Poverty, Percent; the 2017 row with footnote 6 (updated processing) and the 2019 row with no footnote (original 2011 method).
- Supplemental Poverty Measure rate, 2019-2025 (2021 method). Table 8, block ALL RACES, All People, Below Poverty, Percent; the 2019 row with footnote 5 (revised method) onward.
- Households that were food insecure at some time during the year (USDA ERS). trends.xlsx, sheet Trends, column B: Food insecurity (includes low and very low food security), percent of households.
- Households with very low food security at some time during the year (USDA ERS). trends.xlsx, sheet Trends, column C: Very low food security, percent of households.
The first budget year of each term
A budget year runs from October to September and is named by the year it ends in. By law, the president’s budget plan is due to Congress by the first Monday in February, for the budget year that starts in October. So a new president’s first budget year was planned by the president in office the winter before, and it was already running on the day the new term began. The first year built on the new president’s own plan starts in October of the first year in office. Congress writes the spending laws, and the president signs or vetoes them. The law listed is the one that set spending for the full budget year.
| Term | First budget year | Budget plan for it sent by | Full-year spending law signed by | Law, and the day it was signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 1 Oct 1980 to 30 Sep 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Reagan 1 | Public Law 97-12, 5 Jun 1981 |
| Reagan 2 | 1 Oct 1984 to 30 Sep 1985 | Reagan 1 | Reagan 1 | Public Law 98-473, 12 Oct 1984 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 1 Oct 1988 to 30 Sep 1989 | Reagan 2 | Reagan 2 | Public Law 100-463, 1 Oct 1988 |
| Clinton 1 | 1 Oct 1992 to 30 Sep 1993 | Bush (H.W.) | Bush (H.W.) | Public Law 102-396, 6 Oct 1992 |
| Clinton 2 | 1 Oct 1996 to 30 Sep 1997 | Clinton 1 | Clinton 1 | Public Law 104-208, 30 Sep 1996 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1 Oct 2000 to 30 Sep 2001 | Clinton 2 | Clinton 2 | Public Law 106-554, 21 Dec 2000 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005 | Bush (W.) 1 | Bush (W.) 1 | Public Law 108-447, 8 Dec 2004 |
| Obama 1 | 1 Oct 2008 to 30 Sep 2009 | Bush (W.) 2 | Obama 1 | Public Law 111-8, 11 Mar 2009 |
| Obama 2 | 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sep 2013 | Obama 1 | Obama 2 | Public Law 113-6, 26 Mar 2013 |
| Trump 1 | 1 Oct 2016 to 30 Sep 2017 | Obama 2 | Trump 1 | Public Law 115-31, 5 May 2017 |
| Biden | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | Trump 1 | Trump 1 | Public Law 116-260, 27 Dec 2020 |
| Trump 2 | 1 Oct 2024 to 30 Sep 2025 | Biden | Trump 2 | Public Law 119-4, 15 Mar 2025 |
This table is here because help such as food stamps is paid from the federal budget.
What this chart asks
Two shares, one panel each: people below the official poverty line, and households that at times couldn’t buy enough food for everyone. Each bar shows how far the share moved during one term, up or down. A point has the same length in both panels.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1, people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1980 to 14.4% in 1984 is a change of +1.4.Reagan 1, people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1980 to 14.4% in 1984 is a change of +1.4.Reagan 2, people in poverty: from 14.4% in 1984 to 13.0% in 1988 is a change of −1.4.Bush (H.W.), people in poverty: from 13.0% in 1988 to 14.8% in 1992 is a change of +1.8.Clinton 1, people in poverty: from 14.8% in 1992 to 13.7% in 1996 is a change of −1.1.Clinton 2, people in poverty: from 13.7% in 1996 to 11.3% in 2000 is a change of −2.4.Bush (W.) 1, people in poverty: from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004 is a change of +1.4.Bush (W.) 2, people in poverty: from 12.7% in 2004 to 13.2% in 2008 is a change of +0.5.Obama 1, people in poverty: from 13.2% in 2008 to 15.0% in 2012 is a change of +1.8.Obama 2, people in poverty: −0.5 from 2012 to 2013, then −2.1 from 2013 to 2016.Trump 1, people in poverty: −0.4 from 2016 to 2017, then −0.8 from 2017 to 2020.Biden, people in poverty: from 11.5% in 2020 to 10.7% in 2024 is a change of −0.8.Trump 2, people in poverty, so far: from 10.7% in 2024 to 10.2% in 2025 is a change of −0.5. Mark another term and this example follows your mark. The food panel reads the same way.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s years, the share at its start and end, and a second count, the Supplemental Poverty Measure or the homes where people ate less. The last row gives recession months by NBER’s dates, the standard US recession dates.
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Read with care: poverty
Reagan 1: the count changed inside the term, so its start and end use two versions of it. Obama 2 and Trump 1: the method changed inside each term, so each has two bars, one per version. Trump 2 is still running: its bar is striped and stops at 2025. The notes under the chart give the details.
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Read with care: food
Reagan 1 to Clinton 2: no bar, not in USDA’s yearly series, which starts in 2001. Bush (W.) 1: no figure for 2000, before the term, so its bar is striped. Trump 2: no bar, no data after 2024. The note under the chart gives the details.
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Up or down, term by term
The two lines under the question count the bars, one line for each panel. People in poverty: went up in 5 terms, went down in 7 terms. Households short of food: went up in 2 terms, went down in 3 terms, measured in part in 1 term, no bar in 6 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, sets out the rule in full and every change Census and USDA made to these counts.
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Did the homicide rate go up or down?
Each bar is the homicide rate from CDC’s count of death certificates in a term’s last year, minus the rate in the year before it began. The FBI’s murder rate is a row under each name.
Went up in 4 terms, went down in 6 terms, about the same in 1 term, no bar in 1 term.
Change in the homicide rate in each term, in deaths per 100,000 residents (crude rate).
Reagan 1: from 10.6 in 1980 to 8.3 in 1984 is a change of −2.3.Reagan 1: from 10.6 in 1980 to 8.3 in 1984 is a change of −2.3.Reagan 2: from 8.3 in 1984 to 8.9 in 1988 is a change of +0.6.Bush (H.W.): from 8.9 in 1988 to 9.8 in 1992 is a change of +0.9.Clinton 1: from 9.8 in 1992 to 7.7 in 1996 is a change of −2.1.Clinton 2: −1.2 from 1996 to 1998, then −0.1 from 1999 to 2000.Bush (W.) 1: from 6.0 in 2000 to 5.9 in 2004 is a change of −0.1.Bush (W.) 2: from 5.9 in 2004 to 5.9 in 2008 is a change of 0.0.Obama 1: from 5.9 in 2008 to 5.3 in 2012 is a change of −0.6.Obama 2: from 5.3 in 2012 to 6.0 in 2016 is a change of +0.7.Trump 1: from 6.0 in 2016 to 7.5 in 2020 is a change of +1.5.Biden: from 7.5 in 2020 to 5.9 in 2024 is a change of −1.6. Measure: Homicide death rate (crude), death certificates, CDC WONDER. Source: CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Compressed Mortality, 1979-1998, ICD-9 database D16); for later years, other databases of the same system, named under How we counted. FBI row: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, in the tables named under How we counted.
Clinton 2: Death certificates changed their list of causes of death in 1999, inside this term. CDC’s words: “Each of these revisions produces breaks in the continuity of cause-of-death statistics because of changes in classification and in the rules for selecting an underlying cause of death.” So this term has two bars. They are never joined: 1996 to 1998 on the older list, then 1999 to 2000 on the newer one. The step from 1998 to 1999 is in neither bar.
Biden: The FBI changed how police forces send it their reports in 2021, inside this term. The FBI’s words: “the UCR Program retired the SRS and transitioned to a NIBRS-only data collection on January 1, 2021”. This page leaves out the FBI’s figure for 2021, and the change in the FBI row uses only 2020 and 2024. About 2021, the FBI says: “The 2021 estimates are primarily NIBRS submissions and include nominal SRS statistics. As a result, estimates are below a statistically acceptable level to be nationally representative and are not comparable to other yearly estimates.”
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar is the rate in a term’s last year minus the rate in the year before it began. A calendar year counts for the president in office for most of it, so a term’s own years are the four calendar years from the year it began. A crude rate is the count divided by the whole population. No adjustment is made for age. Rate: every death that a death certificate records as a homicide, in deaths per 100,000 residents (crude rate).
From 1979 to 1998, death certificates used an older list of causes of death, and CDC keeps those years in a database of their own. From 1999, they use the newer list. CDC says each change of list breaks the record, so no bar joins a year on one list to a year on the other. A term that crosses the change gets one bar for each side: Clinton 2.
The newer list comes in two databases. They overlap from 2018 to 2020 and give the same rates there. The newer one, which runs from 2018 to 2024, is used for Biden.
CDC WONDER keeps its newest death counts apart from the final ones, in a database it calls Provisional Mortality Statistics. In CDC’s words: “Provisional data are available for years 2025 and later”. CDC first released that database in December 2021 and adds new death records every week. These early counts can still change, so this page prints none of them, and the term still running has no bar.
The FBI count
The FBI tables used here cover 1991 to 2025, in the editions listed under Sources. The editions stay apart. No change uses a year from one edition and a year from another. The FBI row follows the rule of the bars, so it shows a change only where one edition gives both the year before a term and the term’s last year. Where an edition covers only part of a term, the cell says “not the whole term”, and the change it does give is listed here with its years. Where no edition reaches a term, the cell says “no figure”. For the term still running, the FBI row uses the latest year the FBI has published and says “so far”. The FBI doesn’t call that year’s figure preliminary.
- Bush (H.W.): −0.5, 1991–1992
- Clinton 2: −1.7, 1996–1999
Both counts are official, but they count different things. A doctor or coroner writes the cause on each death certificate. CDC adds up every death recorded as a homicide, while police forces report the murders they record to the FBI, which estimates a figure for the whole country. In every year both cover, the rate on death certificates is higher. They differ most in 2001, with 7.1 on death certificates and 5.6 in the FBI count. The FBI’s table for that year says: “The murder and nonnegligent homicides that occurred as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, are not included in this table.”
The FBI also changed the system police forces use to send it their reports. The FBI’s words on this page use short names: UCR is the FBI’s crime reporting program, and SRS and NIBRS are the old and the new system for sending reports.
Recessions
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Sources
- Homicide death rate per 100,000 residents (crude), death certificates, CDC WONDER 1979-1998 (ICD-9). Source: CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Compressed Mortality, 1979-1998, ICD-9 database D16), series D16 request: underlying cause ICD-9 E960-E969; measure M3 crude rate, all ages, all races, both sexes, national.
- Homicide death rate per 100,000 residents (crude), death certificates, CDC WONDER 1999-2020. Source: CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Underlying Cause of Death, 1999-2020, bridged-race database D76), series D76 request: underlying cause ICD-10 U01, U02, X85-Y09, Y87.1; measure M3 crude rate, all ages, all races, national.
- Homicide death rate per 100,000 residents (crude), death certificates, CDC WONDER 2018-2024. Source: CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Underlying Cause of Death, 2018-2024, single race, database D158), series D158 request: underlying cause ICD-10 U01, U02, X85-Y09, Y87.1; measure M3 crude rate, all ages, all races, national.
- Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate per 100,000 inhabitants, FBI national estimate (2010 edition, 1991-1999). Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime in the United States, Table 1, series Crime in the United States 2010, Table 1, column Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate (per 100,000 inhabitants); years 1991-1999 kept.
- Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate per 100,000 inhabitants, FBI national estimate (2019 edition, 2000-2019). Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime in the United States, Table 1, series Crime in the United States 2019, Table 1, column Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate (per 100,000 inhabitants).
- Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate per 100,000 inhabitants, FBI national estimate (2025 summary, 2006-2025). Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, UCR Summary of Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2025.
What this chart asks
The homicide rate counts deaths that death certificates record as homicides, in deaths per 100,000 residents (crude rate): the count divided by the whole population, with no adjustment for age. Each bar shows how far that rate moved in one term, up or down.
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How to read one bar
Reagan 1: from 10.6 in 1980 to 8.3 in 1984 is a change of −2.3.Reagan 1: from 10.6 in 1980 to 8.3 in 1984 is a change of −2.3.Reagan 2: from 8.3 in 1984 to 8.9 in 1988 is a change of +0.6.Bush (H.W.): from 8.9 in 1988 to 9.8 in 1992 is a change of +0.9.Clinton 1: from 9.8 in 1992 to 7.7 in 1996 is a change of −2.1.Clinton 2: −1.2 from 1996 to 1998, then −0.1 from 1999 to 2000.Bush (W.) 1: from 6.0 in 2000 to 5.9 in 2004 is a change of −0.1.Bush (W.) 2: from 5.9 in 2004 to 5.9 in 2008 is a change of 0.0.Obama 1: from 5.9 in 2008 to 5.3 in 2012 is a change of −0.6.Obama 2: from 5.3 in 2012 to 6.0 in 2016 is a change of +0.7.Trump 1: from 6.0 in 2016 to 7.5 in 2020 is a change of +1.5.Biden: from 7.5 in 2020 to 5.9 in 2024 is a change of −1.6.Trump 2 is still running and has no final CDC count yet, so it has no bar. This step shows another term’s bar. Reagan 1: from 10.6 in 1980 to 8.3 in 1984 is a change of −2.3. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the rate in the year before the term began and in its last year, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates). The recession row gives dates only.
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A second count, from the FBI
The FBI row is a second official count: the murders police forces report to the FBI. It uses the same rule as the bars. Where no single FBI edition covers a whole term, the cell says so. How we counted explains how the counts differ.
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Terms to read with care
Clinton 2: CDC changed its list of causes of death during the term, so it has two bars, never joined. Biden: the FBI changed how police send it reports during the term. Trump 2 is still running and has no final CDC count yet, so it has no bar.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars, one term at a time. Went up in 4 terms, went down in 6 terms, about the same in 1 term, no bar in 1 term.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule in full, how the two counts differ, and each change the agencies name.
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Did the US grow faster than other G7 countries?
Each bar is US growth per person each year, with price rises taken out, minus the median (middle) growth of the other six G7 countries, the group of seven large rich economies.
The US grew faster in 8 terms, slower in 1 term, similar in 3 terms.
US growth per person minus the G7 median in each term, points a year.
In the Reagan 1 term, from 1980 to 1984, US growth was +2.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.30%, so the bar is +0.83 points.In the Reagan 1 term, from 1980 to 1984, US growth was +2.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.30%, so the bar is +0.83 points.In the Reagan 2 term, from 1984 to 1988, US growth was +2.88% a year and the G7 median was +2.95%, so the bar is −0.07 points.In the Bush (H.W.) term, from 1988 to 1992, US growth was +1.01% a year and the G7 median was +1.90%, so the bar is −0.89 points.In the Clinton 1 term, from 1992 to 1996, US growth was +2.05% a year and the G7 median was +1.27%, so the bar is +0.78 points.In the Clinton 2 term, from 1996 to 2000, US growth was +3.25% a year and the G7 median was +2.58%, so the bar is +0.67 points.In the Bush (W.) 1 term, from 2000 to 2004, US growth was +1.38% a year and the G7 median was +0.87%, so the bar is +0.51 points.In the Bush (W.) 2 term, from 2004 to 2008, US growth was +1.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.20%, so the bar is −0.07 points.In the Obama 1 term, from 2008 to 2012, US growth was +0.14% a year and the G7 median was −0.07%, so the bar is +0.21 points.In the Obama 2 term, from 2012 to 2016, US growth was +1.55% a year and the G7 median was +0.87%, so the bar is +0.68 points.In the Trump 1 term, from 2016 to 2020, US growth was +0.90% a year and the G7 median was −0.76%, so the bar is +1.66 points.In the Biden term, from 2020 to 2024, US growth was +2.94% a year and the G7 median was +2.24%, so the bar is +0.70 points.In the Trump 2 term so far, from 2024 to 2025, US growth was +1.63% a year and the G7 median was +0.70%, so the bar is +0.93 points. A gap of less than 0.25 points is called similar. Measure: GDP per capita, constant 2015 US$: United States (World Bank WDI). Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.PCAP.KD); sources include OECD national accounts, series NY.GDP.PCAP.KD. For the US agency’s own count, see the first table under “How we counted”: US Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA Table 7.1 line 10), series A939RX.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
The bars
Each bar is the US growth rate minus the G7 median for the same years. Growth here is real GDP per person: the value of everything a country produced in a year, divided by the number of people, with price rises taken out. Each rate is the steady growth per year that takes real GDP per person from the year before a term began to the term’s last year. A year counts for the president in office for most of it, so each term owns four calendar years. For the Reagan 1 term, for example, each rate runs from 1980 to 1984.
Why a rate per year? A finished term has four years of data, while the term still running has data only to 2025. A rate per year lets them be compared.
The G7 comparison
To compare countries, every rate on the chart comes from the World Bank, which uses one source and one method for all seven countries, the US included. Its US rate is close to the one from BEA, the US statistics agency, but not always the same. The first table gives both. The median is the middle value, and with six countries it is the average of the middle two. A gap of less than 0.25 points a year is called similar, never faster or slower, and the count above the chart uses the same rule.
Germany is counted in every term. About its figures before 1991, the World Bank says: “GDP data before 1991 are calculated by applying backward GDP growth rates of the former Federal Republic of Germany starting from the first official GDP value for the unified Germany (1991)”
Each term’s growth per person, % a year
| Term | US, BEA | US, BEA by quarter | US, World Bank | G7 median | Gap, points (the bars) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | +2.1% | +2.3% | +2.13% | +1.30% | +0.83 |
| Reagan 2 | +2.9% | +2.9% | +2.88% | +2.95% | −0.07 |
| Bush (H.W.) | +1.0% | +1.0% | +1.01% | +1.90% | −0.89 |
| Clinton 1 | +2.1% | +2.1% | +2.05% | +1.27% | +0.78 |
| Clinton 2 | +3.3% | +3.1% | +3.25% | +2.58% | +0.67 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +1.4% | +1.5% | +1.38% | +0.87% | +0.51 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +1.1% | +0.3% | +1.13% | +1.20% | −0.07 |
| Obama 1 | +0.1% | +0.7% | +0.14% | −0.07% | +0.21 |
| Obama 2 | +1.6% | +1.7% | +1.55% | +0.87% | +0.68 |
| Trump 1 | +0.9% | +1.4% | +0.90% | −0.76% | +1.66 |
| Biden | +3.0% | +2.6% | +2.94% | +2.24% | +0.70 |
| Trump 2so far | +1.8% | +1.8% | +1.63% | +0.70% | +0.93 |
“BEA by quarter” is a second count, from BEA’s quarterly figures, that runs from the last quarter before a term to the term’s last quarter. For the running term it reaches the second quarter of 2026.
The second table gives each other G7 country’s own rate from the World Bank, and in each term the median in the first table is the middle of these.
| Term | Canada | France | Germany | Italy | Japan | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | +1.02% | +1.12% | +1.26% | +1.34% | +3.17% | +1.70% |
| Reagan 2 | +2.66% | +2.28% | +2.33% | +3.24% | +4.47% | +4.07% |
| Bush (H.W.) | −1.10% | +1.94% | +3.25% | +1.86% | +3.10% | +0.47% |
| Clinton 1 | +1.78% | +1.04% | +0.63% | +1.34% | +1.19% | +3.38% |
| Clinton 2 | +3.68% | +2.88% | +2.15% | +2.28% | +0.32% | +3.57% |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +1.42% | +0.96% | +0.41% | +0.56% | +0.78% | +1.94% |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +1.20% | +1.21% | +2.25% | +0.15% | +0.92% | +1.20% |
| Obama 1 | +0.15% | −0.07% | +1.15% | −1.99% | −0.07% | −0.78% |
| Obama 2 | +0.72% | +0.52% | +1.01% | +0.10% | +1.46% | +1.56% |
| Trump 1 | −0.69% | −0.83% | −0.08% | −1.32% | −0.40% | −1.62% |
| Biden | +1.55% | +2.67% | +0.96% | +4.02% | +1.80% | +2.74% |
| Trump 2so far | +0.79% | +0.59% | +0.27% | +0.60% | +1.69% | +1.09% |
Changes BEA makes to past years
- Every year: “Annual updates generally cover at least the 5 most recent calendar years ... Comprehensive (or benchmark) updates are carried out at about 5-year intervals and incorporate ... improvements in concepts and methods”
Recessions
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
BEA has published this series every year since 1929. We use the World Bank’s figures from 1979 on.
The first budget year of each term
A budget year runs from October to September and is named by the year it ends in. By law, the president’s budget plan is due to Congress by the first Monday in February, for the budget year that starts in October. So a new president’s first budget year was planned by the president in office the winter before, and it was already running on the day the new term began. The first year built on the new president’s own plan starts in October of the first year in office. Congress writes the spending laws, and the president signs or vetoes them. The law listed is the one that set spending for the full budget year.
| Term | First budget year | Budget plan for it sent by | Full-year spending law signed by | Law, and the day it was signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 1 Oct 1980 to 30 Sep 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Reagan 1 | Public Law 97-12, 5 Jun 1981 |
| Reagan 2 | 1 Oct 1984 to 30 Sep 1985 | Reagan 1 | Reagan 1 | Public Law 98-473, 12 Oct 1984 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 1 Oct 1988 to 30 Sep 1989 | Reagan 2 | Reagan 2 | Public Law 100-463, 1 Oct 1988 |
| Clinton 1 | 1 Oct 1992 to 30 Sep 1993 | Bush (H.W.) | Bush (H.W.) | Public Law 102-396, 6 Oct 1992 |
| Clinton 2 | 1 Oct 1996 to 30 Sep 1997 | Clinton 1 | Clinton 1 | Public Law 104-208, 30 Sep 1996 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1 Oct 2000 to 30 Sep 2001 | Clinton 2 | Clinton 2 | Public Law 106-554, 21 Dec 2000 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005 | Bush (W.) 1 | Bush (W.) 1 | Public Law 108-447, 8 Dec 2004 |
| Obama 1 | 1 Oct 2008 to 30 Sep 2009 | Bush (W.) 2 | Obama 1 | Public Law 111-8, 11 Mar 2009 |
| Obama 2 | 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sep 2013 | Obama 1 | Obama 2 | Public Law 113-6, 26 Mar 2013 |
| Trump 1 | 1 Oct 2016 to 30 Sep 2017 | Obama 2 | Trump 1 | Public Law 115-31, 5 May 2017 |
| Biden | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | Trump 1 | Trump 1 | Public Law 116-260, 27 Dec 2020 |
| Trump 2 | 1 Oct 2024 to 30 Sep 2025 | Biden | Trump 2 | Public Law 119-4, 15 Mar 2025 |
What this chart asks
Growth here is the yearly rise in what the US produced per person, with price rises taken out. Each bar takes the median (the middle value) of the other six G7 countries, seven large rich economies, away from US growth over the same years.
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How to read one bar
In the Reagan 1 term, from 1980 to 1984, US growth was +2.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.30%, so the bar is +0.83 points.In the Reagan 1 term, from 1980 to 1984, US growth was +2.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.30%, so the bar is +0.83 points.In the Reagan 2 term, from 1984 to 1988, US growth was +2.88% a year and the G7 median was +2.95%, so the bar is −0.07 points.In the Bush (H.W.) term, from 1988 to 1992, US growth was +1.01% a year and the G7 median was +1.90%, so the bar is −0.89 points.In the Clinton 1 term, from 1992 to 1996, US growth was +2.05% a year and the G7 median was +1.27%, so the bar is +0.78 points.In the Clinton 2 term, from 1996 to 2000, US growth was +3.25% a year and the G7 median was +2.58%, so the bar is +0.67 points.In the Bush (W.) 1 term, from 2000 to 2004, US growth was +1.38% a year and the G7 median was +0.87%, so the bar is +0.51 points.In the Bush (W.) 2 term, from 2004 to 2008, US growth was +1.13% a year and the G7 median was +1.20%, so the bar is −0.07 points.In the Obama 1 term, from 2008 to 2012, US growth was +0.14% a year and the G7 median was −0.07%, so the bar is +0.21 points.In the Obama 2 term, from 2012 to 2016, US growth was +1.55% a year and the G7 median was +0.87%, so the bar is +0.68 points.In the Trump 1 term, from 2016 to 2020, US growth was +0.90% a year and the G7 median was −0.76%, so the bar is +1.66 points.In the Biden term, from 2020 to 2024, US growth was +2.94% a year and the G7 median was +2.24%, so the bar is +0.70 points.In the Trump 2 term so far, from 2024 to 2025, US growth was +1.63% a year and the G7 median was +0.70%, so the bar is +0.93 points. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s years, US growth and the G7 median in % a year, the word for the gap, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates). The recession row gives dates only.
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A term to read with care
Trump 2 is still running, so its bar is striped and its rates run only to 2025, the latest year with figures.
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Faster or slower, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. A gap of less than 0.25 points a year is called similar, as in the word under each bar. The US grew faster in 8 terms, slower in 1 term, similar in 3 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, sets out the rule in full, BEA’s own count of US growth and each G7 country’s rate.
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What came from outside the US?
Two things from outside the US are shown for each term: how fast the world outside the US grew, and how US export prices moved against import prices. Each bar is a change a year.
The world outside the US grew in 12 terms.
US export prices rose against import prices in 8 terms, fell in 4 terms.
How fast the world outside the US grew
US export prices against import prices
Growth outside the US and US trade prices in each term, % a year.
Reagan 1, from 1980 to 1984: growth outside the US averaged +2.1% a year, +8.8% in all. Export prices moved +3.0% a year against import prices, +12.5% in all.Reagan 1, from 1980 to 1984: growth outside the US averaged +2.1% a year, +8.8% in all. Export prices moved +3.0% a year against import prices, +12.5% in all.Reagan 2, from 1984 to 1988: growth outside the US averaged +3.8% a year, +16.1% in all. Export prices moved −1.2% a year against import prices, −4.6% in all.Bush (H.W.), from 1988 to 1992: growth outside the US averaged +2.5% a year, +10.3% in all. Export prices moved −0.4% a year against import prices, −1.4% in all.Clinton 1, from 1992 to 1996: growth outside the US averaged +2.9% a year, +12.1% in all. Export prices moved +0.3% a year against import prices, +1.1% in all.Clinton 2, from 1996 to 2000: growth outside the US averaged +3.5% a year, +14.5% in all. Export prices moved +0.3% a year against import prices, +1.2% in all.Bush (W.) 1, from 2000 to 2004: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +13.6% in all. Export prices moved −0.1% a year against import prices, −0.3% in all.Bush (W.) 2, from 2004 to 2008: growth outside the US averaged +4.4% a year, +18.7% in all. Export prices moved −1.9% a year against import prices, −7.4% in all.Obama 1, from 2008 to 2012: growth outside the US averaged +2.7% a year, +11.4% in all. Export prices moved +0.9% a year against import prices, +3.5% in all.Obama 2, from 2012 to 2016: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +13.4% in all. Export prices moved +1.8% a year against import prices, +7.3% in all.Trump 1, from 2016 to 2020: growth outside the US averaged +1.6% a year, +6.7% in all. Export prices moved +0.4% a year against import prices, +1.8% in all.Biden, from 2020 to 2024: growth outside the US averaged +4.0% a year, +17.0% in all. Export prices moved +1.8% a year against import prices, +7.6% in all.Trump 2 so far, from 2024 to 2025: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +3.2% in all. Export prices moved +1.3% a year against import prices, +1.3% in all. When the price bar rises, the same US exports buy more imports. The world price rows are World Bank indexes, after inflation.
Source: Computed by us from World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD, WLD and USA); Computed by us from US Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA Table 1.1.9 (A020RD / A021RD); World Bank, Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet), annual.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each term is counted on its own calendar years. Every term begins on 20 January, and a year counts for the president who took office in it, so a term’s years are its first four and its start is the year before them. World growth is averaged over those years. Prices compare the start with the term’s last year, as a change a year. The running term ends with the latest year published.
Each series starts in its own year, as published: world growth outside the US, 1980; US export and import prices, 1929; world energy prices, 1960; world food and metal prices, 1960.
The World Bank’s world total includes the US, so we take the US out. What’s left is the rest of the world.
The US both buys and sells oil abroad. So the chart leads with export prices against import prices, which count both sides.
Recessions in each term
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Other numbers from outside, and US interest rates
| Term | Crude oil pricechange a year, before inflation | US import priceschange a year | Federal funds rateaverage | Ten-year Treasury rateaverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | −6.2% | −0.7% | 11.8% | 12.6% |
| Reagan 2 | −15.3% | +1.8% | 7.3% | 8.8% |
| Bush (H.W.) | +6.6% | +1.1% | 6.5% | 7.9% |
| Clinton 1 | +1.8% | +0.3% | 4.6% | 6.5% |
| Clinton 2 | +8.4% | −1.0% | 5.5% | 5.8% |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +7.5% | +1.0% | 1.9% | 4.5% |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +26.7% | +5.8% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Obama 1 | +2.0% | +0.4% | 0.1% | 2.8% |
| Obama 2 | −20.1% | −3.4% | 0.2% | 2.2% |
| Trump 1 | −0.9% | +0.3% | 1.3% | 2.0% |
| Biden | +17.5% | +3.2% | 3.1% | 3.2% |
| Trump 2 so far | −14.4% | +0.3% | 4.0% | 4.4% |
For Trump 2, the yearly numbers run to 2025 and the monthly ones to Sep 2026.
Interest rates sit here as context only. The Federal Reserve sets the federal funds rate. The Fed says it “is an independent government agency but also one that is ultimately accountable to the public and the Congress.”
The first budget year of each term
A budget year runs from October to September and is named by the year it ends in. By law, the president’s budget plan is due to Congress by the first Monday in February, for the budget year that starts in October. So a new president’s first budget year was planned by the president in office the winter before, and it was already running on the day the new term began. The first year built on the new president’s own plan starts in October of the first year in office. Congress writes the spending laws, and the president signs or vetoes them. The law listed is the one that set spending for the full budget year.
| Term | First budget year | Budget plan for it sent by | Full-year spending law signed by | Law, and the day it was signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 1 Oct 1980 to 30 Sep 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Reagan 1 | Public Law 97-12, 5 Jun 1981 |
| Reagan 2 | 1 Oct 1984 to 30 Sep 1985 | Reagan 1 | Reagan 1 | Public Law 98-473, 12 Oct 1984 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 1 Oct 1988 to 30 Sep 1989 | Reagan 2 | Reagan 2 | Public Law 100-463, 1 Oct 1988 |
| Clinton 1 | 1 Oct 1992 to 30 Sep 1993 | Bush (H.W.) | Bush (H.W.) | Public Law 102-396, 6 Oct 1992 |
| Clinton 2 | 1 Oct 1996 to 30 Sep 1997 | Clinton 1 | Clinton 1 | Public Law 104-208, 30 Sep 1996 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1 Oct 2000 to 30 Sep 2001 | Clinton 2 | Clinton 2 | Public Law 106-554, 21 Dec 2000 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005 | Bush (W.) 1 | Bush (W.) 1 | Public Law 108-447, 8 Dec 2004 |
| Obama 1 | 1 Oct 2008 to 30 Sep 2009 | Bush (W.) 2 | Obama 1 | Public Law 111-8, 11 Mar 2009 |
| Obama 2 | 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sep 2013 | Obama 1 | Obama 2 | Public Law 113-6, 26 Mar 2013 |
| Trump 1 | 1 Oct 2016 to 30 Sep 2017 | Obama 2 | Trump 1 | Public Law 115-31, 5 May 2017 |
| Biden | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | Trump 1 | Trump 1 | Public Law 116-260, 27 Dec 2020 |
| Trump 2 | 1 Oct 2024 to 30 Sep 2025 | Biden | Trump 2 | Public Law 119-4, 15 Mar 2025 |
Changes the agencies made (each kept one series)
- 1 March 2016: “As of March 1, 2016, the daily effective federal funds rate (EFFR) is a volume-weighted median of transaction-level data collected from depository institutions in the Report of Selected Money Market Rates (FR 2420). Prior to March 1, 2016, the EFFR was a volume-weighted mean of rates on brokered trades.”
- 6 December 2021: “The monotone convex method for deriving the official Treasury yield curve replaced the previous quasi-cubic hermite spline method as of December 6, 2021.”
Every series on this screen
- World GDP growth without the United States, constant 2015 US$. Computed by us from World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD, WLD and USA), series NY.GDP.MKTP.KD:WLD minus NY.GDP.MKTP.KD:USA.
- US export prices against import prices (export price index divided by import price index), annual. Computed by us from US Bureau of Economic Analysis NIPA Table 1.1.9 (A020RD / A021RD), series A020RD / A021RD.
- World Bank commodity price index, energy, real 2010 US dollars (Pink Sheet), annual. World Bank, Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet), annual, series Annual Indices (Real), column Energy.
- World Bank commodity price index, non-energy, real 2010 US dollars (Pink Sheet), annual. World Bank, Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet), annual, series Annual Indices (Real), column Non-energy.
- Crude oil, average of Brent, Dubai and WTI, nominal US dollars per barrel (World Bank Pink Sheet), annual. World Bank, Commodity Price Data (the Pink Sheet), annual, series Annual Prices (Nominal), column 'Crude oil, average'.
- Imports price index (implicit price deflator, chained 2017 = 100): United States (BEA). US Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA Table 1.1.9), series A021RD.
- Federal funds effective rate, monthly average, Federal Reserve (context only). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Statistical Release H.15 (Data Download Program), series H15/H15/RIFSPFF_N.M.
- 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, constant maturity, monthly average, Federal Reserve (context only). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Statistical Release H.15 (Data Download Program), series H15/H15/RIFLGFCY10_N.M.
- Exports price index (implicit price deflator, chained 2017 = 100): United States (BEA). US Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA Table 1.1.9), series A020RD.
- GDP, constant 2015 US$: World (World Bank WDI). World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD), series NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.
- GDP, constant 2015 US$: United States (World Bank WDI). World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD), series NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.
What this screen shows
The top bars show how fast the world outside the US grew, on average a year. The bottom bars show how US export prices moved against import prices, a year. When that bar rises, the same US exports buy more imports.
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How to read one term
Reagan 1, from 1980 to 1984: growth outside the US averaged +2.1% a year, +8.8% in all. Export prices moved +3.0% a year against import prices, +12.5% in all.Reagan 1, from 1980 to 1984: growth outside the US averaged +2.1% a year, +8.8% in all. Export prices moved +3.0% a year against import prices, +12.5% in all.Reagan 2, from 1984 to 1988: growth outside the US averaged +3.8% a year, +16.1% in all. Export prices moved −1.2% a year against import prices, −4.6% in all.Bush (H.W.), from 1988 to 1992: growth outside the US averaged +2.5% a year, +10.3% in all. Export prices moved −0.4% a year against import prices, −1.4% in all.Clinton 1, from 1992 to 1996: growth outside the US averaged +2.9% a year, +12.1% in all. Export prices moved +0.3% a year against import prices, +1.1% in all.Clinton 2, from 1996 to 2000: growth outside the US averaged +3.5% a year, +14.5% in all. Export prices moved +0.3% a year against import prices, +1.2% in all.Bush (W.) 1, from 2000 to 2004: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +13.6% in all. Export prices moved −0.1% a year against import prices, −0.3% in all.Bush (W.) 2, from 2004 to 2008: growth outside the US averaged +4.4% a year, +18.7% in all. Export prices moved −1.9% a year against import prices, −7.4% in all.Obama 1, from 2008 to 2012: growth outside the US averaged +2.7% a year, +11.4% in all. Export prices moved +0.9% a year against import prices, +3.5% in all.Obama 2, from 2012 to 2016: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +13.4% in all. Export prices moved +1.8% a year against import prices, +7.3% in all.Trump 1, from 2016 to 2020: growth outside the US averaged +1.6% a year, +6.7% in all. Export prices moved +0.4% a year against import prices, +1.8% in all.Biden, from 2020 to 2024: growth outside the US averaged +4.0% a year, +17.0% in all. Export prices moved +1.8% a year against import prices, +7.6% in all.Trump 2 so far, from 2024 to 2025: growth outside the US averaged +3.2% a year, +3.2% in all. Export prices moved +1.3% a year against import prices, +1.3% in all. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, then the total over the term with the years it compares. The top panel adds the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates).
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Two rows of world prices
Under the bottom bars, two more rows: world prices for energy and for food and metals, each a change a year, after inflation. They come from the World Bank and sit beside the trade bars as context.
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A term to read with care
Trump 2 is still running, so its bars are striped and reach only 2025, the latest year published.
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Up or down, term by term
The two lines under the question count the bars of each panel. The world outside the US grew in 12 terms. US export prices rose against import prices in 8 terms, fell in 4 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, sets out the rule in full. It also lists other numbers from outside and US interest rates.
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How much did the federal government borrow?
The top chart shows the yearly gap between what the government took in and what it spent, averaged over the term. The bottom chart shows how much its debt changed. Both are shares of the economy (GDP).
In the top chart, a surplus in 1 term, a deficit in 11 terms. In the bottom chart, the debt rose in 10 terms, fell in 2 terms.
Yearly deficit or surplus, average of the term’s budget years % of GDP; below zero is a deficit
Change in the debt held by the public over the term points of GDP
The federal deficit or surplus, and the change in federal debt, in each term, as a share of GDP.
Reagan 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1980 to Sep 1984, averaged a deficit of 4.3% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 25.5% to 33.1% of GDP, a change of +7.6 points.Reagan 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1980 to Sep 1984, averaged a deficit of 4.3% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 25.5% to 33.1% of GDP, a change of +7.6 points.Reagan 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1984 to Sep 1988, averaged a deficit of 4.0% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 33.1% to 39.9% of GDP, a change of +6.8 points.Bush (H.W.), top chart: its budget years, Oct 1988 to Sep 1992, averaged a deficit of 3.8% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 39.9% to 46.8% of GDP, a change of +6.9 points.Clinton 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1992 to Sep 1996, averaged a deficit of 2.6% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 46.8% to 47.0% of GDP, a change of +0.2 points.Clinton 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1996 to Sep 2000, averaged a surplus of 1.0% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 47.0% to 33.7% of GDP, a change of −13.3 points.Bush (W.) 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2000 to Sep 2004, averaged a deficit of 1.8% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 33.7% to 35.7% of GDP, a change of +2.0 points.Bush (W.) 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2004 to Sep 2008, averaged a deficit of 2.1% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 35.7% to 39.2% of GDP, a change of +3.5 points.Obama 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2008 to Sep 2012, averaged a deficit of 8.4% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 39.2% to 70.0% of GDP, a change of +30.8 points.Obama 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2012 to Sep 2016, averaged a deficit of 3.1% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 70.0% to 76.0% of GDP, a change of +6.0 points.Trump 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2016 to Sep 2020, averaged a deficit of 6.6% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 76.0% to 98.5% of GDP, a change of +22.5 points.Biden, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2020 to Sep 2024, averaged a deficit of 7.5% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 98.5% to 97.4% of GDP, a change of −1.1 points.Trump 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2024 to Sep 2025, averaged a deficit of 5.9% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 97.4% to 99.5% of GDP, a change of +2.1 points. Source: Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Historical Tables, series Historical Table 1.2 and Historical Table 7.1.
Bush (H.W.): OMB changed how it counts federal loans from budget year 1992, inside this term. OMB says “Because it is impossible to convert the pre-1992 loans to a credit reform basis, the data are on a cash basis for pre-1992 loans and on a credit reform basis for loans made in 1992 and subsequent years.” So this term’s years are counted two ways.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
A deficit means the government spent more than it took in that budget year (October to September) and borrowed the difference. That borrowing adds to the debt. Debt held by the public is what the government owes to lenders outside it, such as people, companies, other countries and the Federal Reserve.
What the charts measure: Federal surplus or deficit, % of GDP, OMB; Federal debt held by the public, end of fiscal year, % of GDP, OMB; Federal debt held by the public, end of fiscal year, millions of dollars, OMB.
A budget year runs from October to September; OMB calls it the fiscal year and names it by the year it ends in. Each term counts the four budget years that end in its first four calendar years. The top bar is their average, and the change under it is the last year minus the year before the term. The bottom bar is the debt at the end of the term’s last budget year minus the debt at the end of the year before the term. For the term still running, the last year is the latest one OMB has published. The row under the bottom chart gives the same debt in dollars, in trillions, on the same two dates. These are current dollars, not adjusted for price rises.
OMB’s yearly tables start in 1930 for the deficit and in 1940 for the debt.
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Each term’s first budget year began in October, before the president took office, on a budget plan sent to Congress the winter before. The table below shows who sent each plan and who signed that year’s full-year spending law. The table after it gives the same count with each term’s budget years moved one year later.
The first budget year of each term
A budget year runs from October to September and is named by the year it ends in. By law, the president’s budget plan is due to Congress by the first Monday in February, for the budget year that starts in October. So a new president’s first budget year was planned by the president in office the winter before, and it was already running on the day the new term began. The first year built on the new president’s own plan starts in October of the first year in office. Congress writes the spending laws, and the president signs or vetoes them. The law listed is the one that set spending for the full budget year.
| Term | First budget year | Budget plan for it sent by | Full-year spending law signed by | Law, and the day it was signed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 1 Oct 1980 to 30 Sep 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Reagan 1 | Public Law 97-12, 5 Jun 1981 |
| Reagan 2 | 1 Oct 1984 to 30 Sep 1985 | Reagan 1 | Reagan 1 | Public Law 98-473, 12 Oct 1984 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 1 Oct 1988 to 30 Sep 1989 | Reagan 2 | Reagan 2 | Public Law 100-463, 1 Oct 1988 |
| Clinton 1 | 1 Oct 1992 to 30 Sep 1993 | Bush (H.W.) | Bush (H.W.) | Public Law 102-396, 6 Oct 1992 |
| Clinton 2 | 1 Oct 1996 to 30 Sep 1997 | Clinton 1 | Clinton 1 | Public Law 104-208, 30 Sep 1996 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1 Oct 2000 to 30 Sep 2001 | Clinton 2 | Clinton 2 | Public Law 106-554, 21 Dec 2000 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005 | Bush (W.) 1 | Bush (W.) 1 | Public Law 108-447, 8 Dec 2004 |
| Obama 1 | 1 Oct 2008 to 30 Sep 2009 | Bush (W.) 2 | Obama 1 | Public Law 111-8, 11 Mar 2009 |
| Obama 2 | 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sep 2013 | Obama 1 | Obama 2 | Public Law 113-6, 26 Mar 2013 |
| Trump 1 | 1 Oct 2016 to 30 Sep 2017 | Obama 2 | Trump 1 | Public Law 115-31, 5 May 2017 |
| Biden | 1 Oct 2020 to 30 Sep 2021 | Trump 1 | Trump 1 | Public Law 116-260, 27 Dec 2020 |
| Trump 2 | 1 Oct 2024 to 30 Sep 2025 | Biden | Trump 2 | Public Law 119-4, 15 Mar 2025 |
The same count, one budget year later
A term’s first budget year was planned by the president in office the winter before (see the table above). This second count moves each term’s four budget years one year later. It starts in October of the first year in office and ends in the September after the term ends, so each year it counts is one whose budget plan the term’s own president sent. The table puts it beside the count in the chart, for every term. Under each name are the budget years it counts. For the term still running, no budget year after its first has ended yet.
| Yearly balance, average (top bars) | Change in debt (bottom bars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Own years | One year later | Own years | One year later |
| Reagan 1Oct 1981 to Sep 1985 | −4.3% | −4.9% | +7.6 | +10.1 |
| Reagan 2Oct 1985 to Sep 1989 | −4.0% | −3.4% | +6.8 | +4.1 |
| Bush (H.W.)Oct 1989 to Sep 1993 | −3.8% | −4.1% | +6.9 | +8.5 |
| Clinton 1Oct 1993 to Sep 1997 | −2.6% | −1.7% | +0.2 | −3.3 |
| Clinton 2Oct 1997 to Sep 2001 | +1.0% | +1.4% | −13.3 | −13.1 |
| Bush (W.) 1Oct 2001 to Sep 2005 | −1.8% | −2.7% | +2.0 | +4.3 |
| Bush (W.) 2Oct 2005 to Sep 2009 | −2.1% | −4.0% | +3.5 | +16.4 |
| Obama 1Oct 2009 to Sep 2013 | −8.4% | −7.0% | +30.8 | +19.6 |
| Obama 2Oct 2013 to Sep 2017 | −3.1% | −2.9% | +6.0 | +3.9 |
| Trump 1Oct 2017 to Sep 2021 | −6.6% | −8.7% | +22.5 | +21.0 |
| BidenOct 2021 to Sep 2025 | −7.5% | −6.0% | −1.1 | +2.8 |
| Trump 2 | −5.9% | not measured yet | +2.1 | not measured yet |
How others count it
Congress has its own budget office, which keeps its own yearly tables (Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Historical Budget Data). It uses another estimate of the size of the economy, so its shares can differ slightly from OMB’s. In the change columns, a plus means the deficit got smaller or the surplus got bigger. A minus means the opposite.
| Yearly balance, average | Change in the balance, end minus start | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term | OMB | CBO | OMB | CBO |
| Reagan 1 | −4.3% | −4.2% | −2.1 | −2.1 |
| Reagan 2 | −4.0% | −4.0% | +1.7 | +1.7 |
| Bush (H.W.) | −3.8% | −3.9% | −1.5 | −1.5 |
| Clinton 1 | −2.6% | −2.5% | +3.1 | +3.2 |
| Clinton 2 | +1.0% | +1.0% | +3.7 | +3.7 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | −1.8% | −1.8% | −5.7 | −5.8 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | −2.1% | −2.1% | +0.3 | +0.3 |
| Obama 1 | −8.4% | −8.4% | −3.6 | −3.6 |
| Obama 2 | −3.1% | −3.1% | +3.6 | +3.5 |
| Trump 1 | −6.6% | −6.6% | −11.4 | −11.5 |
| Biden | −7.5% | −7.5% | +8.2 | +8.4 |
| Trump 2 | −5.9% | −5.8% | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| Change in debt | Interest, share of revenue, average | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term | OMB | CBO | OMB | CBO |
| Reagan 1 | +7.6 | +7.6 | 14.2% | 14.2% |
| Reagan 2 | +6.8 | +6.8 | 17.1% | 17.1% |
| Bush (H.W.) | +6.9 | +6.8 | 17.9% | 17.9% |
| Clinton 1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | 16.8% | 16.8% |
| Clinton 2 | −13.3 | −13.3 | 13.3% | 13.3% |
| Bush (W.) 1 | +2.0 | +2.0 | 9.2% | 9.2% |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +3.5 | +3.5 | 9.3% | 9.3% |
| Obama 1 | +30.8 | +30.8 | 9.2% | 9.2% |
| Obama 2 | +6.0 | +6.0 | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| Trump 1 | +22.5 | +22.5 | 9.7% | 9.7% |
| Biden | −1.1 | −1.1 | 12.8% | 12.8% |
| Trump 2 | +2.1 | +2.0 | 18.5% | 18.5% |
Interest is the debt’s yearly cost, shown here as a share of what the government took in. It moves with the amount of debt and with interest rates.
Treasury’s daily count
Treasury counts this debt every business day. Its count is in dollars, and its figures for the debt held by the public cover the budget years 1997 to 2026. The tables above use shares of the economy. Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Fiscal Data (Debt to the Penny).
Revisions
OMB publishes its tables again each year, and earlier years can change a little when the size of the economy is revised. The numbers here come from the latest tables.
What the two charts ask
Top chart: each bar is a term’s yearly deficit or surplus, averaged over its budget years. Below zero is a deficit. Bottom chart: each bar is how much the debt held by the public changed over the term. Both are shares of GDP.
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How to read one term
Reagan 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1980 to Sep 1984, averaged a deficit of 4.3% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 25.5% to 33.1% of GDP, a change of +7.6 points.Reagan 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1980 to Sep 1984, averaged a deficit of 4.3% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 25.5% to 33.1% of GDP, a change of +7.6 points.Reagan 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1984 to Sep 1988, averaged a deficit of 4.0% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 33.1% to 39.9% of GDP, a change of +6.8 points.Bush (H.W.), top chart: its budget years, Oct 1988 to Sep 1992, averaged a deficit of 3.8% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 39.9% to 46.8% of GDP, a change of +6.9 points.Clinton 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1992 to Sep 1996, averaged a deficit of 2.6% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 46.8% to 47.0% of GDP, a change of +0.2 points.Clinton 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 1996 to Sep 2000, averaged a surplus of 1.0% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 47.0% to 33.7% of GDP, a change of −13.3 points.Bush (W.) 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2000 to Sep 2004, averaged a deficit of 1.8% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 33.7% to 35.7% of GDP, a change of +2.0 points.Bush (W.) 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2004 to Sep 2008, averaged a deficit of 2.1% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 35.7% to 39.2% of GDP, a change of +3.5 points.Obama 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2008 to Sep 2012, averaged a deficit of 8.4% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 39.2% to 70.0% of GDP, a change of +30.8 points.Obama 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2012 to Sep 2016, averaged a deficit of 3.1% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 70.0% to 76.0% of GDP, a change of +6.0 points.Trump 1, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2016 to Sep 2020, averaged a deficit of 6.6% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 76.0% to 98.5% of GDP, a change of +22.5 points.Biden, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2020 to Sep 2024, averaged a deficit of 7.5% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 98.5% to 97.4% of GDP, a change of −1.1 points.Trump 2, top chart: its budget years, Oct 2024 to Sep 2025, averaged a deficit of 5.9% of GDP a year. Bottom chart: its debt went from 97.4% to 99.5% of GDP, a change of +2.1 points. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Top chart: the change in the yearly gap, the last budget year minus the year before the term. Bottom chart: the debt at the start and end, and the same debt in current dollars. The last row gives only the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates).
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Terms to read with care
Bush (H.W.): OMB changed how it counts federal loans from budget year 1992, inside this term, so the term’s years are counted two ways. The numbered note under the chart quotes OMB.
Trump 2 is still running, so its bars are striped and count only the budget years published so far.
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Counting the bars
The line under the question counts the bars in each chart. In the top chart, a surplus in 1 term, a deficit in 11 terms. In the bottom chart, the debt rose in 10 terms, fell in 2 terms.
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What the charts can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule, the count one budget year later, and the figures from Congress’s budget office.
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Did the uninsured rate go up or down?
Each bar is the % of people under 65 with no health insurance in a term’s last year, minus the same share in the year before the term began.
Went up in 2 terms, went down in 3 terms, up in one part and down in the other in 1 term, measured in part in 2 terms, no bar in 4 terms.
Change in the uninsured rate in each term, in percentage points.
Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Clinton 1: from 17.5% in 1994 to 16.1% in 1995 is a change of −1.4 points.Clinton 2: from 17.5% in 1997 to 17.0% in 2000 is a change of −0.5 points.Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Bush (W.) 2: from 16.4% in 2004 to 16.8% in 2008 is a change of +0.4 points.Obama 1: from 16.8% in 2008 to 16.9% in 2012 is a change of +0.1 points.Obama 2: from 16.9% in 2012 to 10.3% in 2016 is a change of −6.6 points.Trump 1: 10.3% in 2016 to 11.0% in 2018 on the older survey, then 12.0% in 2019 to 11.5% in 2020 on the new one.Biden: from 11.5% in 2020 to 9.9% in 2024 is a change of −1.6 points. Measure: the National Health Interview Survey, run by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). It changed three times, and no bar spans two versions. Source: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health, United States 2020-2021, Table HINone). Later years come from newer NCHS reports, named under How we counted.
Clinton 1: NCHS’s table skips years here. So this bar compares 1994 with 1995 only.
Clinton 2: NCHS redesigned the survey in 1997. In NCHS’s words, “Data before 1997 are not strictly comparable with data for later years due to the 1997 questionnaire redesign.” So this bar starts in 1997, on the new survey.
Bush (W.) 1: In 2004, the survey began to ask people with no reported coverage about Medicaid by name. In NCHS’s words, “Beginning in quarter 3 of the 2004 NHIS, people under age 65 with no reported coverage are asked explicitly about Medicaid coverage.” NCHS printed two figures for that year, 16.6% without the new question and 16.4% with it. This bar ends on the first. The next term starts from the second.
Trump 1: NCHS redesigned the survey again in 2019. In NCHS’s words, “In 2019, the NHIS questionnaire was redesigned and other changes were made to weighting and design methodology. Data for 2019 have not been fully evaluated for comparability with earlier years.” So this term has two bars, never joined: 2016 to 2018 on the older survey, then 2019 to 2020 on the new one. For 2020 (interviews by telephone only from 19 March 2020), NCHS adds: “Though NHIS survey weights account for changes in respondent characteristics due to overall changes in the 2020 data collection, differences observed in estimates between 2020 and earlier time periods may still be impacted by these changes.”
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar is the rate in a term’s last year minus the rate in the year before it began. NCHS gives one rate a year. A year counts for the president who took office in it, so a term’s own years are its first four calendar years. For Bush (W.) 1, that is 2001 to 2004, and its bar starts from 2000.
The survey’s parts
NCHS changed the survey in 1997, 2004 and 2019. We use each part on its own, so no bar compares two parts. Each line below gives our name for a part, then the NCHS report it comes from.
- People under 65 with no health insurance, NHIS, 1984-1995 (before the 1997 questionnaire redesign) CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health, United States 2020-2021, Table HINone); HINone, Percent of population, Total under 65 years; years 1984 and 1989, then 1994 and 1995
- People under 65 with no health insurance, NHIS, 1997-2004 (before the 2004 Medicaid question) CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health, United States 2020-2021, Table HINone); HINone, Percent of population, Total under 65 years; years 1997-2003 and the column 2004(1)
- People under 65 with no health insurance, NHIS, 2004-2018 (with the added Medicaid question) CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health, United States 2020-2021, Table HINone); HINone, Percent of population, Total under 65 years; the column 2004(2) and years 2005-2018
- People under 65 with no health insurance, NHIS, 2019-2024 (after the 2019 questionnaire redesign) CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Long-term Trends in Health Insurance Coverage, 1968-2024, Table 1)
Terms with no bar
- Reagan 1: NCHS’s table has one year in this term, its fourth year, at 14.5%. It has no figure for the year before the term, so no change can be shown.
- Bush (H.W.): NCHS’s table has one year in this term, its first year, at 15.6%. It has no figure for the year before the term, so no change can be shown.
- Reagan 2: NCHS’s table has no year in this term.
- Trump 2: NCHS has no final figure for this term yet. Its early release is named under the next heading.
NCHS’s early release
For the term still running, NCHS has only an early release, which it labels preliminary. In NCHS’s words: “All estimates in this report are based on preliminary data from the 2025 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).” NCHS published it in May 2026. Early figures can still change, so this page prints none of them, and the running term has no bar. Source: CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates, 2025, Table I).
NCHS adds about the same report:
- 2025: “A new sample design was implemented with the 2025 NHIS and aligns with the 2020 decennial census.”
- 2025 (October to December 2025 fieldwork): “Due to a partial federal government closure from October 1 to November 12, 2025, data collection for NHIS was paused.”
Other notes from NCHS
- 2000 to 2002 (Table HINone footnote 1): “Estimates for 2000–2002 were calculated using 2000-based sample weights and may differ from estimates in other reports that used 1990-based sample weights for 2000–2002 estimates.”
How others count it
The Census Bureau counts people with no health insurance in two other surveys. They ask other questions and count people of all ages, so their levels differ from NCHS’s. Compare the direction of each change.
The Current Population Survey (CPS) counts people with no health insurance for the whole year. Census changed it three times. Where a change falls inside a term, the table shows each side on its own. Source: US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey ASEC (health insurance historical tables).
The American Community Survey (ACS) has no figure for 2020, because Census didn’t publish its usual yearly figures that year. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates (health insurance historical tables, HIC-4_ACS).
| Term | NCHS (this chart) | Census CPS | Census ACS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | one year only | no data | no data |
| Reagan 2 | no data | +0.5 from 1987 | no data |
| Bush (H.W.) | one year only | +1.6 | no data |
| Clinton 1 | −1.4 1994 to 1995 | +0.6 | no data |
| Clinton 2 | −0.5 from 1997survey changed | −0.1 to 1999−0.5 from 1999survey changed | no data |
| Bush (W.) 1 | −0.4survey changed | +1.2 | no data |
| Bush (W.) 2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | one year only |
| Obama 1 | +0.1 | +0.5 | +0.2 |
| Obama 2 | −6.6 | −4.5 from 2013survey changed | −6.2 |
| Trump 1 | +0.7 to 2018−0.5 from 2019survey changed | +0.7 from 2017survey changed | +0.6 to 2019 |
| Biden | −1.6 | −0.6 | −0.4 from 2021 |
| Trump 2 | not measured yet | −0.1 so far, to 2025 | not measured yet |
Each cell is the change over the term, in points, with years shown where a count covers only part of a term. In Clinton 1 and Bush (W.) 1, the counts go in different directions. The chart shows NCHS’s count only.
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What this chart asks
The uninsured rate is the share of people with no health insurance, from a yearly NCHS survey. Each bar shows how far that share moved during one term, up or down.
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How to read one bar
Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Reagan 1: NCHS’s table has one year in this term and none for the year before it, so it has no bar. This step shows another term’s bar. Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Reagan 2: NCHS’s table has no year in this term, so it has no bar. This step shows another term’s bar. Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Bush (H.W.): NCHS’s table has one year in this term and none for the year before it, so it has no bar. This step shows another term’s bar. Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Clinton 1: from 17.5% in 1994 to 16.1% in 1995 is a change of −1.4 points.Clinton 2: from 17.5% in 1997 to 17.0% in 2000 is a change of −0.5 points.Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points.Bush (W.) 2: from 16.4% in 2004 to 16.8% in 2008 is a change of +0.4 points.Obama 1: from 16.8% in 2008 to 16.9% in 2012 is a change of +0.1 points.Obama 2: from 16.9% in 2012 to 10.3% in 2016 is a change of −6.6 points.Trump 1: 10.3% in 2016 to 11.0% in 2018 on the older survey, then 12.0% in 2019 to 11.5% in 2020 on the new one.Biden: from 11.5% in 2020 to 9.9% in 2024 is a change of −1.6 points.Trump 2: NCHS has no final figure for this term yet, so it has no bar. This step shows another term’s bar. Bush (W.) 1: from 17.0% in 2000 to 16.6% in 2004 is a change of −0.4 points. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, the rate in the year before the term began and in its last year, and the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates (the standard US recession dates). The recession row gives dates only.
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Terms with no bar
Reagan 1 and Bush (H.W.): one year in NCHS’s table and none before the term, so no change to show.
Reagan 2: no year of the term in NCHS’s table.
Trump 2: still running. NCHS has only an early release, which can still change. How we counted names it.
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Terms with a note below
Clinton 1 and Clinton 2: the bar covers only part of the term, so it’s striped.
Bush (W.) 1: the survey changed inside the term. The note says which version each end is on.
Trump 1: the survey changed inside the term, so two bars, never joined.
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Up or down, term by term
The line under the question counts the bars. Went up in 2 terms, went down in 3 terms, up in one part and down in the other in 1 term, measured in part in 2 terms, no bar in 4 terms.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, gives the rule in full, the survey’s parts, NCHS’s notes and how two Census surveys count it.
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How many people did the Border Patrol stop at the Mexico border each year?
Each bar shows the Border Patrol’s apprehensions at the border with Mexico in one fiscal year (October to September). An apprehension is one arrest, so a person stopped twice counts twice. From 21 Mar 2020 to 11 May 2023, the bars also count expulsions under a public health law: the lighter part of those bars.
Each bar is one fiscal year’s Border Patrol count.
Border Patrol apprehensions and expulsions at the Mexico border, each fiscal year.
The bars of Reagan 1, from left to right: 749,808 in FY1981; 745,820 in FY1982; 1,033,974 in FY1983; 1,058,276 in FY1984.The bars of Reagan 1, from left to right: 749,808 in FY1981; 745,820 in FY1982; 1,033,974 in FY1983; 1,058,276 in FY1984.The bars of Reagan 2, from left to right: 1,183,351 in FY1985; 1,615,844 in FY1986; 1,122,067 in FY1987; 942,561 in FY1988.The bars of Bush (H.W.), from left to right: 852,506 in FY1989; 1,049,321 in FY1990; 1,077,876 in FY1991; 1,145,574 in FY1992.The bars of Clinton 1, from left to right: 1,212,886 in FY1993; 979,101 in FY1994; 1,271,390 in FY1995; 1,507,020 in FY1996.The bars of Clinton 2, from left to right: 1,368,707 in FY1997; 1,516,680 in FY1998; 1,537,000 in FY1999; 1,643,679 in FY2000.The bars of Bush (W.) 1, from left to right: 1,235,718 in FY2001; 929,809 in FY2002; 905,065 in FY2003; 1,139,282 in FY2004.The bars of Bush (W.) 2, from left to right: 1,171,396 in FY2005; 1,071,972 in FY2006; 858,638 in FY2007; 705,005 in FY2008.The bars of Obama 1, from left to right: 540,865 in FY2009; 447,731 in FY2010; 327,577 in FY2011; 356,873 in FY2012.The bars of Obama 2, from left to right: 414,397 in FY2013; 479,371 in FY2014; 331,333 in FY2015; 408,870 in FY2016.The bars of Trump 1, from left to right: 303,916 in FY2017; 396,579 in FY2018; 851,508 in FY2019; 400,651 in FY2020.The bars of Biden, from left to right: 1,659,206 in FY2021; 2,206,436 in FY2022; 2,045,838 in FY2023; 1,530,523 in FY2024.The bar of Trump 2: 237,538 in FY2025. Measure: Border Patrol apprehensions under immigration law, plus expulsions under a public health law while it applied. Source: US Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol, Southwest Border Sectors; later years: US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters (Border Patrol). Green cards and new citizens: DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics (INS before 2003), Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
Trump 1: the marked bar, FY2020, is the Border Patrol’s whole count: darker for apprehensions under immigration law, lighter for expulsions under a public health law, which CBP counts on its own. CBP: “Title 42 expulsions began March 21, 2020, and ended on May 11, 2023.”
Biden: the marked bars, FY2021 to FY2023, are split the same way.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Each bar is one fiscal year, from October to September. A fiscal year counts for the president in office for most of its days, so each term holds four. A term’s first one began nearly four months before the term did, and its last months count for the next term. Every term gets the same rule.
Trump 2: FY2025 began in October 2024, before this term began. FY2026 ended in September 2026. Its count isn’t in the CBP files this chart uses yet.
What the bars count
Each apprehension is one arrest by a Border Patrol agent of someone who crossed the border with Mexico away from an official crossing point. These are events, so a person stopped twice counts twice. People stopped at official crossing points aren’t in the bars. From 21 Mar 2020 to 11 May 2023, the Border Patrol also sent some people back at once under a public health law. CBP calls these expulsions and counts them on their own. In those years each bar is CBP’s total of both: the darker part is the apprehensions and the lighter part is the expulsions. So every bar counts every person stopped, each time.
The CBP files
- Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border, Title 8, by fiscal year, FY1980-FY2019 (Border Patrol table, PDF). US Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol, Southwest Border Sectors
- Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border, Title 8, by fiscal year, FY2019-FY2022 (CBP file FY19-FY22). US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters (Border Patrol). sbo-encounters-fy19-fy22.csv: Component=U.S. Border Patrol, Title of Authority=Title 8, summed by fiscal year
- Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border, Title 8, by fiscal year, FY2022-FY2025 (CBP file FY22-FY25). US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters (Border Patrol). sbo-encounters-fy22-fy25.csv: Component=U.S. Border Patrol, Title of Authority=Title 8, summed by fiscal year
- Border Patrol encounters at the Southwest border, Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions together, by fiscal year, FY2020-FY2023 (CBP file FY20-FY23). US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters (Border Patrol). sbo-encounters-fy20-fy23.csv: Component=U.S. Border Patrol, every Title of Authority (Title 8 and Title 42), summed by fiscal year
Two years appear in two files each (FY2019, 851,508 in the first file and 851,508 in the second; FY2022, 1,152,352 in the second file and 1,152,352 in the third). If the two values ever differ, the build stops.
The fourth file is CBP’s own total for FY2020 to FY2023, apprehensions and expulsions together. In those years the bar is this total, and its darker part is the apprehensions from the files above. If a total is ever smaller than its apprehensions, the build stops.
Every bar as a number
| Term | First year | Second year | Third year | Fourth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 749,808FY1981 | 745,820FY1982 | 1,033,974FY1983 | 1,058,276FY1984 |
| Reagan 2 | 1,183,351FY1985 | 1,615,844FY1986 | 1,122,067FY1987 | 942,561FY1988 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 852,506FY1989 | 1,049,321FY1990 | 1,077,876FY1991 | 1,145,574FY1992 |
| Clinton 1 | 1,212,886FY1993 | 979,101FY1994 | 1,271,390FY1995 | 1,507,020FY1996 |
| Clinton 2 | 1,368,707FY1997 | 1,516,680FY1998 | 1,537,000FY1999 | 1,643,679FY2000 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1,235,718FY2001 | 929,809FY2002 | 905,065FY2003 | 1,139,282FY2004 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1,171,396FY2005 | 1,071,972FY2006 | 858,638FY2007 | 705,005FY2008 |
| Obama 1 | 540,865FY2009 | 447,731FY2010 | 327,577FY2011 | 356,873FY2012 |
| Obama 2 | 414,397FY2013 | 479,371FY2014 | 331,333FY2015 | 408,870FY2016 |
| Trump 1 | 303,916FY2017 | 396,579FY2018 | 851,508FY2019 | 400,651FY2020203,608 under immigration law |
| Biden | 1,659,206FY2021618,986 under immigration law | 2,206,436FY20221,152,352 under immigration law | 2,045,838FY20231,496,067 under immigration law | 1,530,523FY2024 |
| Trump 2 | 237,538FY2025 | the term is still running | ||
Green cards and new citizens
A green card lets a person live and work in the US permanently. Some people who got one in a given year had just arrived, while others already lived in the US. New citizens are people who were naturalized. That means they became US citizens. Both counts come from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which rounds each number to the nearest ten to protect privacy.
| Term | First year | Second year | Third year | Fourth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 595,010FY1981 | 533,620FY1982 | 550,050FY1983 | 541,810FY1984 |
| Reagan 2 | 568,150FY1985 | 600,030FY1986 | 599,890FY1987 | 641,350FY1988 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 1,090,170FY1989 | 1,535,870FY1990 | 1,826,600FY1991 | 973,450FY1992 |
| Clinton 1 | 903,920FY1993 | 803,990FY1994 | 720,180FY1995 | 915,560FY1996 |
| Clinton 2 | 797,850FY1997 | 653,210FY1998 | 644,790FY1999 | 841,000FY2000 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 1,058,900FY2001 | 1,059,360FY2002 | 703,540FY2003 | 957,880FY2004 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 1,122,260FY2005 | 1,266,130FY2006 | 1,052,420FY2007 | 1,107,130FY2008 |
| Obama 1 | 1,130,820FY2009 | 1,042,630FY2010 | 1,062,040FY2011 | 1,031,630FY2012 |
| Obama 2 | 990,550FY2013 | 1,016,520FY2014 | 1,051,030FY2015 | 1,183,510FY2016 |
| Trump 1 | 1,127,170FY2017 | 1,096,610FY2018 | 1,031,770FY2019 | 707,360FY2020 |
| Biden | 740,000FY2021 | 1,018,350FY2022 | 1,172,910FY2023 | 1,364,090FY2024 |
| Trump 2 | not published yet | |||
| Term | First year | Second year | Third year | Fourth year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | 164,390FY1981 | 141,000FY1982 | 178,420FY1983 | 195,860FY1984 |
| Reagan 2 | 242,450FY1985 | 279,500FY1986 | 223,250FY1987 | 240,780FY1988 |
| Bush (H.W.) | 232,660FY1989 | 267,590FY1990 | 307,390FY1991 | 239,660FY1992 |
| Clinton 1 | 313,590FY1993 | 429,120FY1994 | 485,720FY1995 | 1,040,990FY1996 |
| Clinton 2 | 596,010FY1997 | 461,170FY1998 | 837,420FY1999 | 886,030FY2000 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | 606,260FY2001 | 572,650FY2002 | 462,440FY2003 | 537,150FY2004 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | 604,280FY2005 | 702,590FY2006 | 660,480FY2007 | 1,046,540FY2008 |
| Obama 1 | 743,720FY2009 | 619,910FY2010 | 694,190FY2011 | 757,430FY2012 |
| Obama 2 | 779,930FY2013 | 653,420FY2014 | 730,260FY2015 | 753,060FY2016 |
| Trump 1 | 707,270FY2017 | 761,900FY2018 | 843,590FY2019 | 628,250FY2020 |
| Biden | 813,860FY2021 | 969,380FY2022 | 878,460FY2023 | 818,570FY2024 |
| Trump 2 | not published yet | |||
Removals and returns
DHS also counts people it sends out of the US. A removal follows a formal order. A return doesn’t. The two count different things, so the table keeps them in two columns, and each row shows the last year of the term that DHS has published.
| Term | Year | Removals | Returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reagan 1 | FY1984 | 18,700 | 909,830 |
| Reagan 2 | FY1988 | 25,830 | 911,790 |
| Bush (H.W.) | FY1992 | 43,670 | 1,105,830 |
| Clinton 1 | FY1996 | 69,680 | 1,573,430 |
| Clinton 2 | FY2000 | 188,470 | 1,675,880 |
| Bush (W.) 1 | FY2004 | 240,670 | 1,166,580 |
| Bush (W.) 2 | FY2008 | 359,800 | 811,260 |
| Obama 1 | FY2012 | 415,580 | 183,740 |
| Obama 2 | FY2016 | 331,550 | 76,110 |
| Trump 1 | FY2020 | 234,510 | 53,390 |
| Biden | FY2023FY2024 not published yet | 183,360 | 289,070 |
| Trump 2 | not published yet | ||
DHS changed what the returns count includes in FY2009 (Obama 1) and FY2018 (Trump 1). DHS: “Administrative returns include crew members detained on board their vessels since 2009 and also include administrative withdrawals in 2018 - 2023.”
People living in the US without legal status
Nobody counts these people. DHS estimates them from a Census Bureau survey, the American Community Survey (ACS), in thousands of people at the start of each year. Each row below starts from a new base, so the rows are never joined, and no term gets a number of its own.
| Estimate | Year and number, in thousands |
|---|---|
| Based on the 2000 Census (2000, 2005–2010) | 2000: 8,460; 2005: 10,490; 2006: 11,310; 2007: 11,780; 2008: 11,600; 2009: 10,750; 2010: 10,790 |
| Based on the 2010 Census (2010–2015) | 2010: 11,590; 2011: 11,510; 2012: 11,430; 2013: 11,210; 2014: 11,460; 2015: 11,960 |
| Method Update (2015–2018) | 2015: 11,440; 2016: 11,750; 2017: 11,410; 2018: 11,390 |
| Method Update (2018–2020) | 2018: 11,570; 2019: 11,110; 2020: 10,510 |
| Based on the 2020 Census (2022) | 2022: 10,990 |
DHS’s statistics office (OHSS): “Readers should exercise caution when describing changes in these estimates over time because some year-to-year variation may reflect sampling error in the ACS and/or non-sampling error in the estimation method (see Appendix), and OHSS does not have a methodology to evaluate the statistical significance of these fluctuations.”
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What this chart asks
Each bar is one fiscal year’s count of Border Patrol stops at the border with Mexico, away from official crossing points. A stop under immigration law is an apprehension, and a person stopped twice counts twice. In FY2020 to FY2023, CBP also counted expulsions under a public health law, so each bar is CBP’s total of both.
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How the years are grouped
A fiscal year runs from October to September. It counts for the president in office for over half of its days, so a full term holds four bars. The label under a term’s first bar names its first fiscal year.
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How to read one term
The bars of Reagan 1, from left to right: 749,808 in FY1981; 745,820 in FY1982; 1,033,974 in FY1983; 1,058,276 in FY1984.The bars of Reagan 1, from left to right: 749,808 in FY1981; 745,820 in FY1982; 1,033,974 in FY1983; 1,058,276 in FY1984.The bars of Reagan 2, from left to right: 1,183,351 in FY1985; 1,615,844 in FY1986; 1,122,067 in FY1987; 942,561 in FY1988.The bars of Bush (H.W.), from left to right: 852,506 in FY1989; 1,049,321 in FY1990; 1,077,876 in FY1991; 1,145,574 in FY1992.The bars of Clinton 1, from left to right: 1,212,886 in FY1993; 979,101 in FY1994; 1,271,390 in FY1995; 1,507,020 in FY1996.The bars of Clinton 2, from left to right: 1,368,707 in FY1997; 1,516,680 in FY1998; 1,537,000 in FY1999; 1,643,679 in FY2000.The bars of Bush (W.) 1, from left to right: 1,235,718 in FY2001; 929,809 in FY2002; 905,065 in FY2003; 1,139,282 in FY2004.The bars of Bush (W.) 2, from left to right: 1,171,396 in FY2005; 1,071,972 in FY2006; 858,638 in FY2007; 705,005 in FY2008.The bars of Obama 1, from left to right: 540,865 in FY2009; 447,731 in FY2010; 327,577 in FY2011; 356,873 in FY2012.The bars of Obama 2, from left to right: 414,397 in FY2013; 479,371 in FY2014; 331,333 in FY2015; 408,870 in FY2016.The bars of Trump 1, from left to right: 303,916 in FY2017; 396,579 in FY2018; 851,508 in FY2019; 400,651 in FY2020.The bars of Biden, from left to right: 1,659,206 in FY2021; 2,206,436 in FY2022; 2,045,838 in FY2023; 1,530,523 in FY2024.The bar of Trump 2: 237,538 in FY2025. Mark another term and this example follows your mark.
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The rows under each name
Under each name: the term’s own years, then three counts from its final fiscal year: the Border Patrol count, green cards and new citizens. The last row gives the months of recession inside the term, by NBER’s dates. That row gives dates only.
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Bars to read with care
Trump 1 and Biden: in FY2020 to FY2023, each bar has two parts. The darker part is apprehensions under immigration law; the lighter part is expulsions under a public health law.
Trump 2 is still running, so its bar is striped and ends at FY2025.
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What the chart can’t say
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them. How we counted, under the chart, sets out the rule in full, the CBP files and every bar as a number.
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What did each screen measure?
Every screen above set every term side by side, the running one included, and measured each term the same way. Where an agency started a new series during a term, or said its old and new figures don't compare, the term shows two parts. Choose a line to go back to its screen.
- The unemployment rateBureau of Labor Statistics
- Grocery pricesBureau of Labor Statistics
- Consumer prices (inflation)Bureau of Labor Statistics
- The poverty rate, and households that at times lacked enough foodCensus Bureau and USDA
- The homicide rateCDC
- US growth per person against the other G7 countriesBureau of Economic Analysis and World Bank
- World growth outside the US, and US export prices against import pricesWorld Bank and Bureau of Economic Analysis
- The federal deficit and the federal debtOffice of Management and Budget
- The uninsured rateCDC
- Border Patrol stops at the Mexico borderCustoms and Border Protection
Which term a period counts for: each month, quarter and year counts for the president in office for most of its days, so January counts for the president leaving office and the year for the new president.
What matters most to you?
Give each topic a weight. Every topic starts with no weight, so nothing is chosen for you. A topic you weigh shows here with every term side by side; the heavier ones come first and are drawn taller. One screen isn’t on the list. What came from outside shows what each term faced from abroad, so it’s context and not a record of the term. Nothing is combined into one score, and nothing you choose is kept or sent.
Unemploymentchange in the rate, in points
Grocery pricesrise per year, in percent
Inflationrise in consumer prices per year, in percent
Poverty and hungertwo changes, in points
Homicideschange in the rate on death certificates
Growth against the G7faster or slower, points a year
Federal borrowingyearly deficit, and change in debt
Health insurancechange in the uninsured rate, in points
Border stopsBorder Patrol stops, each fiscal year
What came from outside isn’t on this list. It shows what each term faced from abroad, so it’s context and not a record.
The weights you gave: Unemployment a lotUnemployment someUnemployment a littleGrocery prices a lotGrocery prices someGrocery prices a littleInflation a lotInflation someInflation a littlePoverty and hunger a lotPoverty and hunger somePoverty and hunger a littleHomicides a lotHomicides someHomicides a littleGrowth against the G7 a lotGrowth against the G7 someGrowth against the G7 a littleFederal borrowing a lotFederal borrowing someFederal borrowing a littleHealth insurance a lotHealth insurance someHealth insurance a littleBorder stops a lotBorder stops someBorder stops a little
Change the weightsUnemployment
The weight you gave:
Each bar is the unemployment rate in a term’s last month, minus the rate in the month before it began (January counts for the president leaving office). See its screen
Grocery prices
The weight you gave:
Each bar shows how fast grocery prices rose in a term, as an average per year, from the month before it began to its last month. See its screen
Inflation
The weight you gave:
Each bar shows inflation in a term: how fast the prices people pay for goods and services rose, as an average per year. See its screen
Poverty and hunger
The weight you gave:
Each bar is a share in a term’s last year, minus the same share in the year before it began. See its screen
People in poverty
Households short of food
Homicides
The weight you gave:
Each bar is the homicide rate from CDC’s count of death certificates in a term’s last year, minus the rate in the year before it began. The FBI’s murder rate is a row under each name. See its screen
Growth against the G7
The weight you gave:
Each bar is US growth per person each year, with price rises taken out, minus the median (middle) growth of the other six G7 countries, the group of seven large rich economies. See its screen
Federal borrowing
The weight you gave:
The top chart shows the yearly gap between what the government took in and what it spent, averaged over the term. The bottom chart shows how much its debt changed. Both are shares of the economy (GDP). See its screen
Yearly deficit or surplus, average
Federal debt held by the public
Health insurance
The weight you gave:
Each bar is the % of people under 65 with no health insurance in a term’s last year, minus the same share in the year before the term began. See its screen
Border stops
The weight you gave:
Each bar shows the Border Patrol’s apprehensions at the border with Mexico in one fiscal year (October to September). An apprehension is one arrest, so a person stopped twice counts twice. From 21 Mar 2020 to 11 May 2023, the bars also count expulsions under a public health law: the lighter part of those bars. See its screen
Your topics, every term in date order, each chart on its own scale.
Each chart here is the chart on its screen above, with the same numbers. Heavier topics come first and are drawn taller; your weight changes the order and the size, never a number. Each chart has its own scale, so compare terms inside one chart only. Source: BLS, the Census Bureau, USDA, CDC, the FBI, the World Bank, OMB and US Customs and Border Protection, with recession dates from NBER. Each series is named under How we counted.
These numbers show what happened during each term. Congress, the courts, the states, the Federal Reserve and events abroad also move them.
How we counted
Your weight decides two things only: where a topic sits (heavier first; equal weights keep the order of the story) and how tall its chart is drawn. It never changes a number, and no number is added across topics or terms. Each chart keeps its own scale. So a long bar in one chart and a long bar in another can stand for very different changes.
Every chart is built from the same figures as its screen above: the same bars, the same terms with no bar, the same split terms. The words under each screen’s chart, its notes and its How we counted drawer say how that screen counts.
The series behind each topic
- Unemployment (See its screen): US Bureau of Labor Statistics (Current Population Survey).
- Grocery prices (See its screen): US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U).
- Inflation (See its screen): US Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI-U).
- Poverty and hunger (See its screen): US Census Bureau, Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC); USDA Economic Research Service (data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement).
- Homicides (See its screen): CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Compressed Mortality, 1979-1998, ICD-9 database D16); CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Underlying Cause of Death, 1999-2020, bridged-race database D76); CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, served by CDC WONDER (Underlying Cause of Death, 2018-2024, single race, database D158); FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime in the United States, Table 1; FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, UCR Summary of Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2025.
- Growth against the G7 (See its screen): World Bank, World Development Indicators (NY.GDP.PCAP.KD); sources include OECD national accounts.
- Federal borrowing (See its screen): Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Historical Tables.
- Health insurance (See its screen): CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Health, United States 2020-2021, Table HINone); CDC/NCHS, National Health Interview Survey (Long-term Trends in Health Insurance Coverage, 1968-2024, Table 1).
- Border stops (See its screen): US Customs and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol, Southwest Border Sectors; DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics (INS before 2003), Yearbook of Immigration Statistics; US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Land Border Encounters (Border Patrol).
The screen that isn’t here
What came from outside measures growth in the rest of the world and US trade prices. It shows what each term faced from abroad. That’s context and not a record of the term, so it has no weight to give.
Recessions
The recession months follow the dates of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the group that dates US recessions. NBER counts a recession from the month after the economy’s high point (the peak) through the month of its low point (the trough). Each month counts for the term it falls in, so a recession that runs across two terms counts in both, each with its own months. Source: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Business Cycle Dating Committee.
What happens to your choices
Your weights stay on this page, in your browser. Nothing saves them, sends them or counts them. Leave or reload the page and every topic goes back to no weight.