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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The United States netted 51 million new jobs since 1989. Accounting for gains and losses, Democrats held the presidency for 50 million of those.

The claim was made by former President Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.

In the 35 years since 1989, Democrats served for 19 years (Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden) and Republicans for 16 years (George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Donald Trump).

The Economist previously reported 49 million of the 50 million net jobs added between January 1989 and February 2024 were created under Democrats.

“Many things feed into growth trends that have only a scant connection to whoever is living in the White House — from the business cycle to tech innovations and Federal Reserve decisions to the global economy,” The Economist said.

For example, COVID in 2020 caused massive job losses under Trump that erased earlier gains. The rebound happened mostly under Biden.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

USA TODAY: Full speech: Bill Clinton speaks at 2024 DNC | USA TODAY

Library of Congress: Chronological List of Presidents, First Spouses, and Vice Presidents of the United States

New York Times: D.N.C. Live Updates: Night 3 Will Give Tim Walz the Biggest Stage of His Life

Google Docs: Federal Reserve Bank employment counts

NBC News: DNC 2024 live updates: Watch Tim Walz, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Nancy Pelosi speak tonight

The Economist: Five charts compare Democrats and Republicans on job creation

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Were 50 million of the 51 million net US jobs created since 1989 created during Democratic presidencies?

by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
August 23, 2024

<h1>Were 50 million of the 51 million net US jobs created since 1989 created during Democratic presidencies?</h1>
<p class="byline">by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />August 23, 2024</p>

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<figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Wisconsin_Watch_fact_brief-782x409.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1278996 size-full" /></figure>
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<p><em><em><a href="https://www.wisconsinwatch.org/">Wisconsin Watch</a></em> partners with&nbsp;<a href="https://gigafact.org/">Gigafact</a>&nbsp;to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/how-wisconsin-watch-checks-claims-for-its-gigafact-fact-briefs/">Read our methodology</a> to learn how we check claims.</em></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Yes.</h2>
</p></div>
<p>The United States netted 51 million new jobs since 1989. Accounting for gains and losses, Democrats held the presidency for&nbsp;50 million of those.</p>
<p>The claim was made by former President Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.</p>
<p>In the 35 years since 1989, Democrats served for 19 years (Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden) and Republicans for 16 years (George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Donald Trump).</p>
<p>The Economist previously&nbsp;reported&nbsp;49 million of the 50 million net jobs added between January 1989 and February 2024 were created under Democrats.</p>
<p>“Many things feed into growth trends that have only a scant connection to whoever is living in the White House — from the business cycle to tech innovations and Federal Reserve decisions to the global economy,” The Economist said.</p>
<p>For example, COVID in 2020 caused massive job losses under Trump that erased earlier gains. The rebound happened mostly under Biden. </p>
<p><em>This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as <a href="https://youtu.be/XNHtMfDdHWk?t=761" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this one</a>.</em></p>
<p><strong>Sources</strong></p>
<p>USA TODAY: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHtMfDdHWk&amp;t=761s" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Full speech: Bill Clinton speaks at 2024 DNC | USA TODAY</a></p>
<p>Library of Congress: <a href="https://archive.is/AwqyI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chronological List of Presidents, First Spouses, and Vice Presidents of the United States</a></p>
<p>New York Times: <a href="https://archive.is/gHvNG" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">D.N.C. Live Updates: Night 3 Will Give Tim Walz the Biggest Stage of His Life</a></p>
<p>Google Docs: <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SM7O_WLD-9f7bwkxGOUtUd42iavasO5rOE8BkLQR2KY/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Federal Reserve Bank employment counts</a></p>
<p>NBC News: <a href="https://archive.is/Yw3JU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DNC 2024 live updates: Watch Tim Walz, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Nancy Pelosi speak tonight</a></p>
<p>The Economist: <a href="https://archive.is/1NGYD" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Five charts compare Democrats and Republicans on job creation</a></p>
</p></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/08/democrat-republican-jobs-president-biden-trump-obama-clinton-bush/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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