Special Features · Economy

Jobs Added by Month and by President

Every monthly jobs report since 1939: how many jobs the U.S. economy added or lost each month, under every president from Franklin Roosevelt on, through recessions and recoveries. Updated when the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes each report.

+165,000

jobs added in October 2026, the latest month in the Bureau of Labor Statistics payroll survey, taking total payrolls to a record

+137,000average monthly change in jobs over the past three months

0.89 millionnet change in jobs over the past 12 months, to October 2026

159.3 milliontotal nonfarm payroll jobs in October 2026, the most ever

3 monthsin a row of job gains; the longest run of gains on record is 113 months, from Oct 2010 to Feb 2020

01Every Month Since 1939

The change in nonfarm payroll employment each month, seasonally adjusted, as currently published. Shaded bands are recessions as dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Job losses cluster in those bands, and in 6 of the 13 recessions since 1945 it took two years or more for payrolls to get back to their pre-recession level. Hover or tap a bar for the month, the change and who was president.

Period

Jobs

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Jobs addedJobs lostRecession

Thousands of jobs, seasonally adjusted. The latest two months are still preliminary.

02The Latest Jobs Reports

The last 24 months as the BLS currently publishes them. Each month's figure is revised in the next two reports, and the whole series is benchmarked once a year, so these numbers will change. Section 09 keeps a record of those revisions.

Month	Jobs added	Private	Government	Total jobs	First estimate	Revised since
October 2026 (p)	+165,000	+159,000	+6,000	159,293,000	+165,000	0
September 2026 (p)	+60,000	+78,000	−18,000	159,128,000	-	-
August 2026	+186,000	+142,000	+44,000	159,068,000	-	-
July 2026	−10,000	+28,000	−38,000	158,882,000	-	-
June 2026	+31,000	+26,000	+5,000	158,892,000	-	-
May 2026	+63,000	+61,000	+2,000	158,861,000	-	-
April 2026	+148,000	+150,000	−2,000	158,798,000	-	-
March 2026	+214,000	+202,000	+12,000	158,650,000	-	-
February 2026	−156,000	−148,000	−8,000	158,436,000	-	-
January 2026	+160,000	+180,000	−20,000	158,592,000	+130,000	+30,000
December 2025	−17,000	−7,000	−10,000	158,432,000	+50,000	−67,000
November 2025	+41,000	+72,000	−31,000	158,449,000	+64,000	−23,000
October 2025	−140,000	+13,000	−153,000	158,408,000	0	−140,000
September 2025	+76,000	+68,000	+8,000	158,548,000	+119,000	−43,000
August 2025	−70,000	−20,000	−50,000	158,472,000	+22,000	−92,000
July 2025	+64,000	+65,000	−1,000	158,542,000	+73,000	−9,000
June 2025	−20,000	−45,000	+25,000	158,478,000	+147,000	−167,000
May 2025	+13,000	+20,000	−7,000	158,498,000	+139,000	−126,000
April 2025	+108,000	+99,000	+9,000	158,485,000	+177,000	−69,000
March 2025	+67,000	+67,000	0	158,377,000	+228,000	−161,000
February 2025	+42,000	+40,000	+2,000	158,310,000	+151,000	−109,000
January 2025	−48,000	−76,000	+28,000	158,268,000	+143,000	−191,000
December 2024	+237,000	+212,000	+25,000	158,316,000	+256,000	−19,000
November 2024	+134,000	+116,000	+18,000	158,079,000	+227,000	−93,000

(p) preliminary. First estimate: the figure as first reported, from the BLS revision file for months through January 2026 and as recorded by this page from October 2026 on; a dash means neither has it yet. Revised since: the current figure minus the first estimate.

03Jobs Added Under Every President

By this page's convention, each presidency is measured from the last month counted for the president before, because the payroll survey counts jobs in the pay period that includes the 12th of the month: a president inaugurated on Jan. 20 is measured from that January, whose survey week came before the inauguration. Total jobs added favor presidents who served longer and later, when the workforce was bigger, so the chart also shows the average per month and the yearly growth rate, which compares presidents of different eras more fairly.

By total, Bill Clinton leads with 22.9 million, followed by Ronald Reagan (16.1 million) and Joe Biden (15.4 million). By growth rate, among the presidencies the monthly data covers in full, the top three are Lyndon Johnson (+3.80% a year), Jimmy Carter (+3.06%) and Joe Biden (+2.59%). One presidency ended with fewer jobs than it started: Donald Trump's first term (−2.77 million). Donald Trump's first-term figure includes the pandemic collapse of spring 2020; through February 2020 payrolls had grown by 6.7 million. Joe Biden started from payrolls still 9.4 million below that February 2020 peak, so part of his total restored jobs lost in the pandemic; payrolls got back to the peak in June 2022.

Measure

Order

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DemocratRepublicanLighter bar: still in office

President	Measured from	To	Jobs added	Per month	Growth a year	Private	Government
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)*	Jan 1939	Apr 1945	11.52 million	+154,000	+5.35%	9.33 million	2.20 million
Harry Truman (D)	Apr 1945	Jan 1953	8.70 million	+94,000	+2.49%	8.09 million	0.61 million
Dwight Eisenhower (R)	Jan 1953	Jan 1961	3.54 million	+37,000	+0.86%	1.77 million	1.77 million
John F. Kennedy (D)	Jan 1961	Nov 1963	3.57 million	+105,000	+2.30%	2.65 million	0.92 million
Lyndon Johnson (D)	Nov 1963	Jan 1969	12.18 million	+197,000	+3.80%	9.46 million	2.73 million
Richard Nixon (R)	Jan 1969	Jul 1974	9.20 million	+139,000	+2.29%	7.12 million	2.08 million
Gerald Ford (R)	Jul 1974	Jan 1977	2.05 million	+68,000	+1.04%	1.29 million	0.77 million
Jimmy Carter (D)	Jan 1977	Jan 1981	10.34 million	+215,000	+3.06%	9.04 million	1.30 million
Ronald Reagan (R)	Jan 1981	Jan 1989	16.13 million	+168,000	+2.06%	14.71 million	1.41 million
George H.W. Bush (R)	Jan 1989	Jan 1993	2.63 million	+55,000	+0.61%	1.50 million	1.13 million
Bill Clinton (D)	Jan 1993	Jan 2001	22.91 million	+239,000	+2.40%	20.98 million	1.93 million
George W. Bush (R)	Jan 2001	Jan 2009	1.38 million	+14,000	+0.13%	−0.37 million	1.74 million
Barack Obama (D)	Jan 2009	Jan 2017	11.55 million	+120,000	+1.04%	11.81 million	−0.26 million
Donald Trump (R)	Jan 2017	Jan 2021	−2.77 million	−58,000	−0.48%	−2.19 million	−0.58 million
Joe Biden (D)	Jan 2021	Jan 2025	15.41 million	+321,000	+2.59%	13.59 million	1.82 million
Donald Trump (R) so far	Jan 2025	Oct 2026	1.03 million	+49,000	+0.37%	1.25 million	−0.23 million

D Democrat, R Republican. * Franklin Roosevelt took office in March 1933; the monthly series starts in January 1939, so only his last six years are counted. Growth a year is the compound annual rate of change in total payrolls over the term.

By the president's party

Counting every month under each party, payrolls grew +2.80% a year under Democratic presidents (46 years) and +0.97% a year under Republican ones (42 years) since 1939. Leave out Franklin Roosevelt's wartime years and the Democratic figure is +2.40% a year. That gap is real in the data, but it is not evidence that one party creates jobs: it depends heavily on which presidents happened to be in office for recessions, wars and the pandemic, and every president inherits the economy of the last. The stock market under every president article finds the same pattern in share prices, with the same caveats.

04The Race From Inauguration Day

Every presidency lined up from its starting month, so each term can be compared at the same point: how far total payrolls had grown after one year, two years or a full term. Press play to watch it, drag the slider to stop at any month, and tap a name to pick out its line. The growth rate is the default because a million jobs meant much more in 1950 than it does now. Franklin Roosevelt is left out of this chart: the monthly data begins in 1939, almost six years into his presidency, so his first months in office cannot be compared.

Show

At the end of each term

Gray figures: the term ended before that point, or the current term has not reached it yet. At the end, each term is shown at its last month.

Blue lines are Democratic presidents, red Republican.

05Look Up Any Month

Pick a month to see how many jobs were added, where it ranks among all 1,053 months on record, and who was president.

Month

Every month since 1939, in thousands of jobs

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2026	160	−156	214	148	63	31	−10	186	60	165
2025	−48	42	67	108	13	−20	64	−70	76	−140	41	−17
2024	175	206	228	64	78	87	53	9	155	33	134	237
2023	434	290	68	241	280	225	163	218	156	159	127	154
2022	190	819	490	308	301	434	714	290	220	357	303	100
2021	315	517	852	355	478	755	942	552	457	801	658	586
2020	237	262	−1,398	−20,469	2,614	4,631	1,584	1,566	949	690	273	−185
2019	251	7	228	296	27	220	99	232	196	95	207	127
2018	137	394	226	140	322	218	60	257	81	169	90	192
2017	220	218	124	205	205	203	189	147	89	141	223	151
2016	133	196	256	192	46	247	373	141	306	98	118	225
2015	204	259	96	273	342	171	282	134	150	304	229	269
2014	189	151	273	313	215	336	223	197	294	235	291	275
2013	183	289	143	184	223	183	112	255	175	220	276	55
2012	358	263	239	77	107	81	144	182	178	152	156	249
2011	7	220	226	314	106	228	61	133	219	209	137	198
2010	−6	−96	160	254	522	−132	−95	0	−74	279	129	81
2009	−768	−761	−824	−672	−356	−458	−346	−190	−226	−185	−4	−249
2008	−4	−62	−70	−219	−189	−151	−203	−286	−451	−469	−750	−694
2007	223	88	224	63	145	78	−26	−31	86	76	115	105
2006	268	306	305	172	39	88	192	163	134	17	217	189
2005	151	253	120	366	169	259	352	202	50	89	356	162
2004	167	65	319	272	285	97	60	85	150	340	74	127
2003	108	−132	−206	−62	24	−11	−2	−31	99	187	41	109
2002	−124	−122	−15	−106	16	42	−90	−3	−79	115	−1	−151
2001	−13	85	−37	−293	−50	−108	−128	−151	−258	−311	−308	−161
2000	228	109	484	280	221	−42	165	6	103	15	204	160
1999	104	418	117	361	218	271	338	150	199	407	288	317
1998	257	211	148	280	400	231	136	334	198	205	273	373
1997	213	317	318	298	271	256	298	−27	488	349	301	324
1996	−8	421	254	166	339	273	249	179	202	265	282	196
1995	331	189	214	158	−20	245	91	264	227	153	139	160
1994	276	181	463	344	333	317	369	294	344	211	410	307
1993	288	257	−43	296	271	171	312	146	248	286	253	338
1992	35	−53	55	149	130	60	87	123	35	188	144	219
1991	−110	−323	−167	−218	−97	77	−40	10	35	26	−61	30
1990	360	240	204	34	154	22	−35	−208	−85	−145	−155	−54
1989	263	266	194	170	122	114	42	51	249	107	276	84
1988	92	461	275	243	230	364	224	124	339	263	341	281
1987	169	241	245	335	229	172	347	173	227	491	234	289
1986	123	115	87	187	127	−93	318	115	346	187	187	201
1985	265	131	339	196	274	147	189	192	205	188	210	166
1984	443	484	272	363	306	381	310	243	312	285	353	125
1983	219	−73	173	274	280	377	416	−308	1,118	273	355	355
1982	−330	−2	−129	−284	−43	−242	−344	−158	−180	−276	−121	−15
1981	90	72	105	73	13	194	111	−36	−88	−97	−209	−276
1980	128	83	111	−145	−429	−319	−261	259	114	277	257	196
1979	137	247	424	−62	372	319	109	83	27	154	92	99
1978	184	354	512	702	347	441	254	279	138	335	435	280
1977	242	298	403	337	360	400	346	241	457	268	373	237
1976	486	313	232	244	20	64	171	157	188	19	329	208
1975	−359	−375	−270	−188	164	−103	249	383	75	312	145	332
1974	69	154	42	86	167	55	32	−17	−9	20	−365	−613
1973	349	397	270	171	193	239	26	255	108	331	313	111
1972	332	207	296	218	307	289	−49	432	123	410	299	295
1971	73	−58	53	176	211	7	61	58	241	28	205	262
1970	−65	129	146	−103	−224	−95	24	−116	7	−423	−112	383
1969	191	260	206	167	256	308	93	279	−94	207	−35	155
1968	−96	411	80	261	96	253	221	204	154	237	263	264
1967	208	22	101	−64	154	130	138	255	21	61	478	197
1966	207	267	396	245	275	399	190	206	136	211	165	180
1965	161	218	203	256	232	199	275	263	262	229	277	326
1964	126	266	144	25	167	130	193	207	284	−110	425	203
1963	87	115	90	260	36	43	135	116	168	205	−28	106
1962	19	297	87	327	26	16	102	92	140	63	15	−28
1961	−59	−126	102	−32	159	191	146	175	90	134	220	130
1960	100	239	−59	359	−338	−127	−42	−34	−45	−85	−181	−219
1959	393	210	326	307	229	131	123	−468	92	−70	276	540
1958	−308	−500	−277	−272	−113	0	125	194	273	−21	459	141
1957	−42	210	59	82	−88	−83	56	5	−194	−171	−205	−174
1956	170	192	127	81	131	80	−631	676	−27	173	44	108
1955	165	148	318	286	264	278	197	124	155	163	163	213
1954	−234	−87	−225	22	−214	−70	−60	−9	60	56	238	151
1953	−22	195	134	−38	55	29	17	−47	−121	−128	−332	−205
1952	−18	226	−18	116	22	−360	−139	781	396	277	219	350
1951	427	289	296	−12	91	112	−3	−49	−58	52	141	167
1950	4	−229	657	428	336	365	371	738	246	268	70	85
1949	−364	−171	−257	−4	−252	−245	−208	93	156	−838	300	280
1948	98	−146	150	−304	417	238	126	18	116	−49	−53	−160
1947	156	22	50	−108	139	172	−67	217	243	208	73	97
1946	719	−585	951	718	436	386	418	489	273	178	302	−16
1945	35	2	−99	−352	−142	−155	−275	−408	−1,959	93	396	114
1944	−92	−116	−244	−231	−78	−38	−43	−54	−171	29	3	149
1943	257	221	159	95	−51	185	−81	−154	−54	183	146	−75
1942	243	165	423	417	419	258	443	516	271	256	159	241
1941	307	362	249	376	714	468	487	407	291	114	75	80
1940	61	112	110	−124	178	98	−35	410	458	457	402	505
1939		177	180	−186	205	203	−83	244	368	380	59	72

06The Best and Worst Months

April 2020 brought the biggest monthly loss on record, −20,469,000, and June 2020 the biggest gain, +4,631,000. Ranked by percentage of all jobs, months from the 1940s and 1950s, when the workforce was much smaller, move up the list. Switch to percentages to compare across eras.

Biggest gains

Month	Jobs	Change
June 2020	+4,631,000	+3.48%
May 2020	+2,614,000	+2.00%
July 2020	+1,584,000	+1.15%
August 2020	+1,566,000	+1.12%
September 1983	+1,118,000	+1.24%
March 1946	+951,000	+2.42%
September 2020	+949,000	+0.67%
July 2021	+942,000	+0.65%
March 2021	+852,000	+0.59%
February 2022	+819,000	+0.55%
October 2021	+801,000	+0.54%
August 1952	+781,000	+1.62%
June 2021	+755,000	+0.52%
August 1950	+738,000	+1.62%
January 1946	+719,000	+1.84%

Biggest losses

Month	Jobs	Change
April 2020	−20,469,000	−13.57%
September 1945	−1,959,000	−4.84%
March 2020	−1,398,000	−0.92%
October 1949	−838,000	−1.91%
March 2009	−824,000	−0.62%
January 2009	−768,000	−0.57%
February 2009	−761,000	−0.57%
November 2008	−750,000	−0.55%
December 2008	−694,000	−0.51%
April 2009	−672,000	−0.51%
July 1956	−631,000	−1.20%
December 1974	−613,000	−0.78%
February 1946	−585,000	−1.47%
February 1958	−500,000	−0.96%
October 2008	−469,000	−0.34%

Since 1939, payrolls rose in 821 months, fell in 230 and were unchanged in 2. The longest run of monthly gains lasted 113 months, from October 2010 to February 2020, and the longest run of losses 26 months, from January 2008 to February 2010.

07Jobs Added by Year and by Decade

Each year runs from December to December. The best full year on record was 2021 (7.3 million) and the worst 2020 (−9.2 million); payrolls shrank in 18 of the 86 full years.

By decade

Decade	Jobs added	Growth a year
1940s	12.0 million	+3.27%
1950s	10.7 million	+2.21%
1960s	17.1 million	+2.78%
1970s	19.4 million	+2.44%
1980s	18.2 million	+1.84%
1990s	21.9 million	+1.85%
2000s	−1.0 million	−0.07%
2010s	22.0 million	+1.58%
2020s so far	7.5 million	+0.71%

Each decade runs from December of the year before it, so the 1940s start in December 1939.

By year

Year	Jobs added	Change	Private
2026*	+861,000	+0.5%	+878,000
2025	+116,000	+0.1%	+296,000
2024	+1,459,000	+0.9%	+1,021,000
2023	+2,515,000	+1.6%	+1,789,000
2022	+4,526,000	+3.0%	+4,223,000
2021	+7,268,000	+5.1%	+6,884,000
2020	−9,246,000	−6.1%	−8,198,000
2019	+1,985,000	+1.3%	+1,770,000
2018	+2,286,000	+1.5%	+2,159,000
2017	+2,115,000	+1.5%	+2,035,000
2016	+2,331,000	+1.6%	+2,124,000
2015	+2,713,000	+1.9%	+2,563,000
2014	+2,992,000	+2.2%	+2,865,000
2013	+2,298,000	+1.7%	+2,365,000
2012	+2,186,000	+1.6%	+2,253,000
2011	+2,058,000	+1.6%	+2,370,000
2010	+1,022,000	+0.8%	+1,238,000
2009	−5,039,000	−3.7%	−4,965,000
2008	−3,548,000	−2.6%	−3,728,000
2007	+1,146,000	+0.8%	+858,000
2006	+2,090,000	+1.5%	+1,881,000
2005	+2,529,000	+1.9%	+2,343,000
2004	+2,041,000	+1.6%	+1,894,000
2003	+124,000	+0.1%	+166,000
2002	−518,000	−0.4%	−751,000
2001	−1,733,000	−1.3%	−2,284,000
2000	+1,933,000	+1.5%	+1,669,000
1999	+3,188,000	+2.5%	+2,727,000
1998	+3,046,000	+2.4%	+2,733,000
1997	+3,406,000	+2.8%	+3,211,000
1996	+2,818,000	+2.4%	+2,713,000
1995	+2,151,000	+1.9%	+2,073,000
1994	+3,849,000	+3.4%	+3,570,000
1993	+2,823,000	+2.6%	+2,592,000
1992	+1,172,000	+1.1%	+935,000
1991	−838,000	−0.8%	−1,011,000
1990	+332,000	+0.3%	−61,000
1989	+1,938,000	+1.8%	+1,599,000
1988	+3,237,000	+3.1%	+2,848,000
1987	+3,152,000	+3.1%	+2,826,000
1986	+1,900,000	+1.9%	+1,573,000
1985	+2,502,000	+2.6%	+2,090,000
1984	+3,877,000	+4.2%	+3,603,000
1983	+3,459,000	+3.9%	+3,432,000
1982	−2,124,000	−2.3%	−2,032,000
1981	−48,000	−0.1%	+252,000
1980	+271,000	+0.3%	+78,000
1979	+2,001,000	+2.3%	+1,732,000
1978	+4,261,000	+5.0%	+3,888,000
1977	+3,962,000	+4.9%	+3,499,000
1976	+2,431,000	+3.1%	+2,302,000
1975	+365,000	+0.5%	−22,000
1974	−379,000	−0.5%	−868,000
1973	+2,763,000	+3.7%	+2,377,000
1972	+3,159,000	+4.4%	+2,665,000
1971	+1,317,000	+1.9%	+972,000
1970	−449,000	−0.6%	−817,000
1969	+1,993,000	+2.9%	+1,661,000
1968	+2,348,000	+3.5%	+1,938,000
1967	+1,701,000	+2.6%	+1,222,000
1966	+2,877,000	+4.6%	+2,120,000
1965	+2,901,000	+4.9%	+2,299,000
1964	+2,060,000	+3.6%	+1,660,000
1963	+1,333,000	+2.4%	+962,000
1962	+1,156,000	+2.1%	+866,000
1961	+1,130,000	+2.1%	+891,000
1960	−432,000	−0.8%	−661,000
1959	+2,089,000	+4.0%	+1,821,000
1958	−299,000	−0.6%	−553,000
1957	−545,000	−1.0%	−807,000
1956	+1,124,000	+2.2%	+672,000
1955	+2,474,000	+5.0%	+2,299,000
1954	−372,000	−0.7%	−586,000
1953	−463,000	−0.9%	−271,000
1952	+1,852,000	+3.8%	+1,605,000
1951	+1,453,000	+3.1%	+1,079,000
1950	+3,339,000	+7.7%	+2,977,000
1949	−1,510,000	−3.4%	−1,574,000
1948	+451,000	+1.0%	+168,000
1947	+1,202,000	+2.8%	+1,225,000
1946	+4,269,000	+10.9%	+4,452,000
1945	−2,750,000	−6.6%	−2,186,000
1944	−886,000	−2.1%	−990,000
1943	+831,000	+2.0%	+632,000
1942	+3,811,000	+10.0%	+2,710,000
1941	+3,930,000	+11.5%	+3,374,000
1940	+2,632,000	+8.3%	+2,351,000
1939*	+1,619,000	+5.4%	+1,473,000

* Partial year: 1939 runs from January, and the current year runs to October 2026.

08Recessions and Recoveries

How many jobs each recession cost, measured from the business cycle peak to the lowest point for payrolls, and how long it took for payrolls to get back to where they were at the peak. Among recessions whose jobs have come back, the slowest recovery followed the one that began in December 2007: payrolls took 77 months to get back to their peak level. The largest loss came in the recession that began in February 2020, 21.9 million, and payrolls were back to their peak level after 28 months.

Recession	Jobs lost, peak to low	Change	Payroll low	Back to the peak	Months
Feb 2020 to Apr 2020	−21,867,000	−14.4%	Apr 2020	Jun 2022	28
Dec 2007 to Jun 2009	−8,689,000	−6.3%	Feb 2010	May 2014	77
Mar 2001 to Nov 2001	−2,598,000	−2.0%	Aug 2003	Jan 2005	46
Jul 1990 to Mar 1991	−1,562,000	−1.4%	May 1991	Feb 1993	31
Jul 1981 to Nov 1982	−2,830,000	−3.1%	Dec 1982	Nov 1983	28
Jan 1980 to Jul 1980	−960,000	−1.1%	Jul 1980	Dec 1980	11
Nov 1973 to Mar 1975	−1,460,000	−1.9%	Apr 1975	Dec 1975	25
Dec 1969 to Nov 1970	−832,000	−1.2%	Nov 1970	May 1971	17
Apr 1960 to Feb 1961	−1,256,000	−2.3%	Feb 1961	Dec 1961	20
Aug 1957 to Apr 1958	−2,214,000	−4.2%	May 1958	Apr 1959	20
Jul 1953 to May 1954	−1,710,000	−3.4%	Aug 1954	Jun 1955	23
Nov 1948 to Oct 1949	−2,250,000	−5.0%	Oct 1949	Jul 1950	20
Feb 1945 to Oct 1945	−3,390,000	−8.1%	Sep 1945	Jul 1946	17

Recession dates are the National Bureau of Economic Research's business cycle peaks and troughs. Losses are measured from the payroll level in the NBER peak month, not from the highest payroll month. Months is the time from the peak until total payrolls first matched that level again.

09How the Jobs Report Gets Revised

The number in the headlines on jobs day is an early estimate. It comes from a survey of employers, and not all of them have answered by the first deadline. The BLS publishes a second estimate a month later and a third the month after that, then once a year, with the January report each February, it benchmarks the whole series to the near-complete count of jobs from unemployment-insurance tax records. Monthly revisions can run to tens of thousands of jobs. The BLS puts the average annual benchmark revision at about two-tenths of one percent of total payrolls, a few hundred thousand jobs, and some years have been much larger.

Every first, second and third estimate since May 2003

The BLS keeps every estimate it has published since the May 2003 report. Across the 271 months from May 2003 to November 2025, the third estimate differed from the first by an average of 52,000 jobs in one direction or the other, and by 54,000 over the last three years of that span. Months were revised up 149 times and down 122 times. The chart shows each month's change from its first estimate to its third; for the months around the turn of the year, the third estimate also takes in the annual benchmark.

Revised upRevised down

Thousands of jobs: third estimate minus first estimate of the monthly change in total nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted. Source: BLS CES vintage data.

Biggest upward revisions

Month	First	Third	Revision
November 2021	+210,000	+647,000	+437,000
December 2021	+199,000	+588,000	+389,000
August 2021	+235,000	+483,000	+248,000
May 2020	+2,509,000	+2,725,000	+216,000
September 2021	+194,000	+379,000	+185,000
January 2021	+49,000	+233,000	+184,000
February 2021	+379,000	+536,000	+157,000
September 2006	+51,000	+203,000	+152,000
July 2021	+943,000	+1,091,000	+148,000
November 2005	+215,000	+354,000	+139,000

Biggest downward revisions

Month	First	Third	Revision
March 2020	−701,000	−1,373,000	−672,000
April 2020	−20,537,000	−20,787,000	−250,000
September 2008	−159,000	−403,000	−244,000
October 2008	−240,000	−423,000	−183,000
October 2025	0	−173,000	−173,000
December 2020	−140,000	−306,000	−166,000
June 2025	+147,000	−13,000	−160,000
December 2008	−524,000	−681,000	−157,000
January 2009	−598,000	−741,000	−143,000
March 2021	+916,000	+785,000	−131,000

Annual benchmark revisions

Each February the BLS resets the level of payrolls for March of the year before to the near-complete count from unemployment-insurance tax records, and adjusts the months around it. The figure here is how far the seasonally adjusted March level moved. The BLS's own benchmark figures are measured before seasonal adjustment, so they can differ from these by a few tens of thousands of jobs.

Published	Level of	Revision	Change
February 2026	March 2025	−898,000	−0.56%
February 2025	March 2024	−589,000	−0.37%
February 2024	March 2023	−266,000	−0.17%
February 2023	March 2022	+568,000	+0.38%
February 2022	March 2021	+374,000	+0.26%
February 2021	March 2020	−250,000	−0.17%
February 2020	March 2019	−514,000	−0.34%
February 2019	March 2018	−1,000	−0.00%
February 2018	March 2017	+146,000	+0.10%
February 2017	March 2016	−60,000	−0.04%
February 2016	March 2015	−206,000	−0.15%
February 2015	March 2014	+91,000	+0.07%
February 2014	March 2013	+369,000	+0.27%
February 2013	March 2012	+422,000	+0.32%
February 2012	March 2011	+165,000	+0.13%
February 2011	March 2010	−411,000	−0.32%
February 2010	March 2009	−930,000	−0.70%
February 2009	March 2008	−17,000	−0.01%
February 2008	March 2007	−284,000	−0.21%
February 2007	March 2006	+754,000	+0.56%
February 2006	March 2005	−119,000	−0.09%
February 2005	March 2004	+156,000	+0.12%
February 2004	March 2003	−163,000	−0.13%

Revisions recorded by this page

This page records every revision from October 2026 on. The first ones will appear here after the next jobs report.

10How This Page Works

The data is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Employment Statistics survey: total nonfarm payroll employment, private payrolls and government payrolls, seasonally adjusted, in thousands of jobs, as published on the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's FRED database (series PAYEMS, USPRIV and USGOVT). The page checks for new data every day; the whole history is replaced with each download, so every figure on the page reflects the latest revisions. Payroll jobs count positions, not people: someone with two jobs counts twice, and the self-employed, unpaid family workers, farm workers and private household workers are not included. The unemployment rate comes from a different survey; it is on the unemployment rate history page.

A month belongs to whoever was president during its survey reference period, the pay period that includes the 12th, and each presidency is measured from the last month that belonged to the president before. A president inaugurated on Jan. 20 is measured from that January; Harry Truman (sworn in April 12, 1945) from April 1945, Lyndon Johnson (Nov. 22, 1963) from November 1963 and Gerald Ford (Aug. 9, 1974) from July 1974. Franklin Roosevelt's four terms count as one presidency, and only from January 1939, when the monthly series begins; Donald Trump's two non-consecutive terms are counted separately.

Data through October 2026; page data last changed November 10, 2026.

11Frequently Asked Questions

How many jobs were added last month?

The latest figure, for October 2026, is +165,000 jobs, a first or early estimate that the Bureau of Labor Statistics will revise in each of the next two reports. Over the past three months payrolls grew by an average of +137,000 a month.

Which president added the most jobs?

In total, Bill Clinton, with 22.9 million jobs over 8 years. Measured by the yearly growth rate, which is fairer to presidents who served when the workforce was smaller, Lyndon Johnson leads at +3.80% a year. Both use the baseline months explained under How This Page Works, based on the payroll survey's reference period.

What was the worst month for jobs?

April 2020, when payrolls fell by 20,469,000 as the pandemic shut down much of the economy. Outside 2020, the worst month was September 1945 (−1,959,000).

Does the president control job growth?

Not much. The business cycle, the Federal Reserve, demographics and events abroad matter far more, and every president inherits the economy of the one before. The figures here show what happened during each presidency, not what each president caused.

Why do the numbers change after they are published?

Each monthly figure starts as an estimate from a survey of employers. The BLS revises it in each of the next two monthly reports as more surveys come in, and once a year it benchmarks the whole series to unemployment-insurance tax records, which typically moves the level by a few hundred thousand jobs.

How often is this page updated?

It checks for new data every day and updates when the BLS releases a new jobs report, usually on the first Friday of the month.

12Sources

Cite This Page

This page is free to cite and link. Its figures come from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted), via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED series PAYEMS, USPRIV, USGOVT); calculations by DaveManuel.com and are kept current, so please include the date you accessed it.

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APA	Manuel, D. (2026). Jobs Added by Month and by President: Every Jobs Report Since 1939. DaveManuel.com. Retrieved November 10, 2026, from https://www.davemanuel.com/jobs-added-by-month-and-president.php	Copy
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Source data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics (nonfarm payrolls, seasonally adjusted), via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED series PAYEMS, USPRIV, USGOVT); calculations by DaveManuel.com. Updates: Monthly, with each BLS jobs report. How we build our data pages.

Month	Jobs	Change
June 2020	+4,631,000	+3.48%
March 1946	+951,000	+2.42%
May 1941	+714,000	+2.01%
May 2020	+2,614,000	+2.00%
January 1946	+719,000	+1.84%
April 1946	+718,000	+1.79%
August 1950	+738,000	+1.62%
August 1952	+781,000	+1.62%
March 1950	+657,000	+1.52%
December 1940	+505,000	+1.50%
September 1940	+458,000	+1.42%
October 1940	+457,000	+1.39%
July 1941	+487,000	+1.33%
August 1956	+676,000	+1.30%
June 1941	+468,000	+1.29%