Last updated: May 17th, 2024
Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter became president for one term starting in 1977. His administration faced a number of economic and environmental challenges at home while continuing the Nixon foreign policy of de-escalation with the Soviet Union.
As president Jimmy Carter inherited an economy in stagflation (rising prices and low growth simultaneously). He responded with fiscal policies to curb federal deficits and spending to decrease inflation. He also focused policy on energy conservation, but the economy faced another energy crisis in 1979 that precipitated a recession.
Below is a table summarizing Jimmy Carter's cumulative and annualized performance across all the metrics we track. These are for the entirety of Jimmy Carter's term.
Indicator | Cumulative Gain/Loss |
---|---|
NASDAQ | 106.64% |
DOW | 0.24% |
S&P | 29.39% |
Job Growth | 12.82% |
GDP Growth | 14.27% |
Emergency Natural Gas Act (Feb 1977)
- Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act (Oct 1978)
- Revenue Act (Nov 1978)
Camp David Accords (Sept 1978)
- SALT II Agreement (June 1979)
- Oil Prices Double from Nov 1978 to Nov 1979
Under Jimmy Carter’s presidency, the S&P 500 gained 29.39%, the NASDAQ gained 106.64% and the Dow Jones gained 0.24%. Annualized, the S&P 500 gained 6.65%, the NASDAQ gained 19.88% and the Dow Jones gained 0.06%
Here is Jimmy Carter’s cumulative stock market performance broken out by term.
Indicator | Cumulative End of Term 1 | Cumulative End of Term 2 |
---|---|---|
NASDAQ | 106.18% | 106.64% |
DOW | 0.48% | 0.24% |
S&P | 29.77% | 29.39% |
Go to our Learning Center to learn more about stock market performance and how it affects you.
Here is Carter’s cumulative GDP growth performance broken out by term.
Indicator | Cumulative End of Term 1 | Cumulative End of Term 2 |
---|---|---|
GDP Growth | 14.27% | N/A |
Here is Carter’s cumulative job growth performance broken out by term.
Indicator | Cumulative End of Term 1 | Cumulative End of Term 2 |
---|---|---|
Job Growth | 12.82% | N/A |
We capture the data as soon as it’s available to us – stock market data after daily market close, jobs data once a month and GDP data once a quarter. After verifying the raw data, we then calculate updated cumulative and annualized performance data for the current president (the data for previous presidents have been calculated and verified in advance).
Some metrics are measured daily (like stock market performance), monthly (like jobs growth) and quarterly (like GDP growth). We start measurement of performance for a president from the first full time period after their inauguration. For stock market performance, it is the first stock market day in office. For jobs growth, it’s either first full calendar month in office (so if you are inaugurated in the middle of January, the first full month is February). This ensures a consistent starting point across all presidencies.
Also, read these articles in our Learning Center:
- What is the difference between cumulative and annualized performance?
- What’s the best way to interpret the facts and data on Facts First?
Want to share our charts but need to verify our data?
We are happy to share the raw data and methodologies we use with any media organization that wants to link to or share our charts and data. If that is of interest to you, please contact us.
(Due the amount of requests, we must limit inquiries and responses to media representatives only.)