Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to Alro Steel manufacturing plant in Potterville, Michigan, U.S. August 29, 2024.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
When Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump take the debate stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, expect them to arrive with a stockpile of talking points about the U.S. economy.
In the weeks leading up to their head-to-head debate, hosted by ABC News, both Harris and Trump have unveiled new economic proposals. They have also tried to paint their rival as a threat to the health and stability of the U.S. economy.
As the candidates try to frame the economy in favorable terms Tuesday, keep these key numbers in mind.
Inflation and prices
People walk by a produce store in Brooklyn on August 14, 2024 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
- 1.4%: The Consumer Price Index in January 2021 at the start of the Biden-Harris administration. President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed that he inherited a 9% inflation rate from Trump, which is false.
- 9.1%: The CPI in June 2022, the height of the post-pandemic inflation surge under Biden, and the highest rate since 1981. Trump has repeatedly claimed it was the highest inflation rate in U.S. history, but this is false.
- 2.9%: The annual CPI in July of this year, the most recent reading. This is the lowest 12-month inflation rate since March 2021. The next CPI report will be released Wednesday.
- 19.4% The cumulative increase in prices since Biden and Harris took office, according to a CNBC analysis of CPI data. Trump has falsely claimed that cumulative prices have soared more than 50% since Jan. 2021.
- 7.8%: The cumulative increase in prices over the four years Trump was in office, according to a CNBC analysis of CPI data over time.
Jobs and wages
A staff member stands on a ladder on the day of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit in Potterville, Michigan, U.S., August 29, 2024.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
- 14.8%: The unemployment rate in April 2020, the highest single month of the Trump administration, when employers hemorrhaged jobs due to Covid-19. This was also the highest monthly rate since the BLS first began tracking unemployment in 1948.
- 6.4%: The unemployment rate in January 2021, when Biden and Harris took office. This was the highest monthly rate of the Biden-Harris administration so far.
- 17.6%: The average hourly wage increase since Biden took office, according to a CNBC analysis of BLS data. Biden claims that wage growth outpaced inflation during his presidency, which is not true since prices have cumulatively increased by 19.4%.
- 15.9 million: The jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration so far, according to BLS data.
- 2.7 million: The net number of jobs lost during the Trump administration, a figure largely attributable to the pandemic-induced economic recession.
- 6.7 million: The jobs added from the time Trump took office in January 2017…