Exactly one year ago, Donald Trump took his oath of office and became the 45th President of the United States.
Trump ran on a campaign slogan of Make America Great Again; the real estate developer and billionaire vowed to improve the economy and become the ‘jobs’ president.
After the president’s first year in office, the numbers provide an indication of whether or not Donald Trump was up to the task.
As reported by National Public Radio, here are the official statistics in major policy categories.
The Economy
The unemployment rate continued to fall under President Trump: From 4.8 percent in January 2017 to the 4.1 percent we see today. The Gross Domestic Product, an indicator of the nation’s productivity, climbed from 1.8 percent to 2.3 percent year-on-year.
Wage growth is approximately the same: A modest 2.6 percent in January 2017 as compared to the current 2.5 percent. Inflation growth is slightly lower than last year, although many economists expect that to increase and potentially alter Fed rates. The federal debt as a percentage of GDP has fallen slightly from 104.1 percent to 103.8 percent and the labor force participation rate is slightly down from 62.9 percent to 62.7 percent.
One of the greatest explosions of stock market growth seen under any president has taken place. The S&P 500 has grown from 2,271 to 2810, the Dow Jones recently hit a record 26,000, and the stock market’s value has grown by $6.9 trillion to $30.6 trillion under Trump.
International Affairs
The situation isn’t as dire as has often been portrayed: The number of free countries in the world has edged up from 87 to 88, rather than having fallen.
According to Freedom House, however, civil liberties and freedom in the world has declined; this includes the United States, which saw a decline similar to that under President Obama in 2014, thus continuing the overall trend of decline.
Immigration
Here are the following statistics on the key issue in the Trump platform.
The immigration numbers above showing a decline in border apprehensions from 408.870 to 303,916 can be misleading for a number of reasons, as noted by NPR. Specifically:
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the decline in apprehensions is due to a number of factors, including “the Trump administration’s enforcement priorities, the growth of the Latin American economy and increased immigrant settling in Mexico.” However, there has been an uptick in apprehensions since the figure hit a recent low in April 2017. Importantly, fiscal year 2017 runs from October 2016 through September 2017, so three months of this period were during the Obama administration.
The numbers also show a steep drop-off in refugee admissions: From 84,995 to 53,716. This is consistent with President Trump’s policy initiative to decrease the number of refugees and immigrants entering the United States.
The numbers overall paint a picture of the United States that is far rosier than is often portrayed in the news media. As a recent poll showed, 66 percent of the American people see the economy as “excellent” or “good.” The terrorist group ISIS has been decimated, and despite the alarming standoff between the U.S. and North Korea, there have been no new foreign wars or major military operations.
If the American people would focus on Trump’s policy accomplishments, rather than obsess about his polarizing persona, they might be far more inclined to give the president credit after his first year in office.
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