Fact check: Is the economy still in a better place than when Obama left office?
The claim: The coronavirus pandemic has brought the U.S. economy back to its high point under Obama
Following economic turmoil induced by COVID-19, tens of millions of Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. The unemployment rate reached 4.4% in March, up from February's 3.5%, the largest month-to-month increase since January 1975, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That figure is expected to jump dramatically in the coming weeks.
The virus has wreaked havoc on all aspects of the economy. On one day in late March, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 4.5% and — along with other drops since the end of February — erased all of the gains made since Trump took office in January 2017.
It has recovered to a degree since then; the Dow on April 22 was about 3,700 points above where it was at the start of Trump's presidency, 23,476 versus 19,805.
USA TODAY
Despite relief efforts at state and national levels, millions of Americans are facing economic hardships as businesses close and income slows or stops completely.
As tumultuous as the economy has been recently, some are comparing it favorably to where the U.S. was at the end of the Obama administration.
An Instagram post from Turning Point USA quoted conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh as saying, "It took quarantining. It took many small businesses closing. It took canceling practically everything, to bring the USA economy back to the Obama high mark."
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