Purchasing Power of the Dollar under every president, month by month
At month 21 in office, Trump II is at −5.1% since taking office: #5 of 10 administrations (average −7.0%). Official Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Every administration at month 21
| Rank | Administration | Value at month 21 | Change since month 1 | Latest / end of month 48 | Primary federal source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Barack Obama | $16.36 | −2.9% | $15.44 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #2 | George W. Bush | $19.75 | −2.9% | $18.62 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #3 | Donald Trump (first term) | $14.16 | −3.3% | $13.62 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #4 | Bill Clinton | $23.91 | −4.4% | $22.44 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #5 | Donald Trump (second term) · in office | $10.62 | −5.1% | $10.62 (month 21) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #6 | George H. W. Bush | $26.94 | −8.6% | $25.09 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #7 | Richard Nixon | $91.07 | −8.9% | $84.00 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #8 | Ronald Reagan | $36.54 | −10.7% | $33.84 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #9 | Joe Biden | $12.05 | −11.3% | $11.24 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
| #10 | Jimmy Carter | $53.68 | −11.7% | $41.32 (month 48) | Bureau of Labor Statistics · CPIAUCSL |
Methodology and source verification
What a dollar at the start of the term buys at each later month: CPI at month 0 divided by CPI at that month. Ranked on the % change since month 0.
Every administration is aligned to its own inauguration: month 1 is the month it took office, and the comparison runs to month 48 (the first term). Each administration is compared at the same month in office, so a president halfway through a term is never measured against another's full four years.
Primary source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), series CPIAUCSL, refreshed hourly. Latest observation 2026-09-01, first published 2026-10-14. Full methods: methodology.