Summary
In our seventh installment of this feature, gauging how various factors have changed under President Joe Biden, we found:
The economy added 13.2 million jobs under Biden, putting the total 3.8 million higher than before the pandemic.
The unemployment rate dropped for a time to the lowest in nearly 54 years; unfilled job openings surged, with over 1.6 for every unemployed job seeker.
Inflation roared back to the highest level in over 40 years, then slowed markedly. In all, consumer prices are up nearly 15.7%. Gasoline is up 51.2%.
Weekly earnings rose briskly, by 12.2%. But after adjusting for inflation, “real” weekly earnings went down 3.4%.
The S&P 500 has increased 20.2%
The percentage of Americans without health insurance has gone down by 1.3 percentage points.
Consumer confidence is 6.4 points lower, according to a University of Michigan index, but it has gone up for two straight months.
The number of apprehensions of those trying to cross the southern border illegally dropped dramatically in June, but is still up 310%.
U.S. crude oil production has increased 8.2%; imports are up 7.3%.
The trade deficit for goods and services climbed 30.1%.
Debt held by the public has gone up 18.9%.
Refugee admissions have increased 38.5%, but that’s 2,556 refugees per month on average — far short of Biden’s campaign goal of admitting 125,000 a year.