Job trends key to presidents seeking re-election
| Published: | Oct 05, 2012 4:47 PM EDT |
| Updated: | Oct 06, 2012 6:30 AM EDT |
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rising unemployment hurts an incumbent president's re-election prospects. Here's a look at the role unemployment trends have played in elections since 1980 when sitting presidents sought to stay in the White House.
| Election Year | Unemployment rate in November | Background | Result |
| 1980 | 7.5 percent | Unemployment rose sharply - from 5.9 percent - in the year leading up to the election, diminishing President Jimmy Carter's hopes for re-election. | Carter unseated by challenger Ronald Reagan, 51-41 percent. |
| 1984 | 7.2 percent | Unemployment was still high - but had come down dramatically after peaking at 10.8 percent in December 1982. | Reagan beat challenger Walter Mondale in a landslide, 59-41 percent. |
| 1992 | 7.4 percent | President George H.W. Bush looked invincible after a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraq out of Kuwait in early 1991. But rising unemployment changed everything by Election Day 1992. | Bush ousted by Bill Clinton, 43-37 percent. |
| 1996 | 5.4 percent | A powerful economic expansion boosted Clinton's re-election prospects. | Clinton fended off challenger Bob Dole, 49-41 percent. |
| 2004 | 5.4 percent | A strengthening economic recovery helped President George W. Bush | Bush won re-election over challenger John Kerry, 51-48 percent. |
| 2012 | 7.8 percent (October 2012) | A lackluster economic recovery made President Barack Obama vulnerable; but a big drop in October unemployment lifted his prospects. | ??? |
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