They have spent less time in the Oval Office than their conservative counterparts over the last five decades, but Democratic presidents have presided over better private sector job growth than Republicans.

 

Bob Drummond at Bloomberg analyzed 50 years worth of statistics from the Department of Labor and found that non-government payrolls increased by about 42 million jobs under Democrats, compared with 24 million for Republican presidents.

 

The advantage in job growth occurred despite the fact that Democrats occupied the Oval Office for 23 years since John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, while GOP presidents spent 28 years in charge.

 

Over the last 50 years, the monthly average of new private sector jobs under Democrats was 150,000, while under Republicans it was only 71,000, according to Drummond.

 

President Bill Clinton had the best record with 217,000 private-sector jobs a month, followed by Jimmy Carter at 188,000 and Ronald Reagan with a monthly average of 153,000.  Private jobs actually shrank by an average of 6,700 a month under President George W. Bush, while private employers in the United States have added 900 jobs a month since President Barack Obama took office.

 

This evaluation follows a previous Bloomberg study that showed the stock market also performs better under Democratic presidents.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Private Jobs Increase More With Democrats in White House (by Bob Drummond, Bloomberg)