Politics and Ohio’s Economic Performance

Posted on September 1, 2025 by admin

For this post, I want to focus on politics and Ohio’s economic performance in relation to the party in power. There’s been much said over whether the economy does better under Republicans or Democrats at the national level, and I wanted to see if national politics played any role in the economic performance of Columbus and Ohio overall. Now, to put it simply, I really just looked at Bureau of Labor Statistics to see how the economy performed under different administrations. It’s not necessarily going to be a very deep analysis beyond that. In recent surveys, many user responses chose political content as something I should contribute to the site more often. While I do not want to make the site overtly political, I think there can be a balance by using a data-driven approach. This is what I used in past posts relating to politics, from Covid numbers to voting totals.

In any case, we have to determine what administrations we’re going to look at. First, the criteria is that they have to be completed adminisrations, as we will look at entire 4-year periods. The data for the BLS for Ohio goes back to 1976, but only to 1990 for Columbus itself. Therefore, for the state we will use Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama and Trump for the state numbers, and Clinton, Bush II, Obama and Trump for city numbers. Will the state numbers follow the same patterns as the city, or not?

For this post, it’s all about Ohio.

Let’s look at the overall stats of each president. These will be Labor Force (people within the job market), Employment (people in the labor force with jobs), Unemployment (people in the labor force without jobs), and Unemployment Rate (percent of the labor force without jobs).

State of Ohio	Labor Force Data
President	Figure at Term Beginning	Figure at Term End	Net Change	% Change
Jimmy Carter (D) 1/1977-1/1981	4,781,086	5,085,673	+304,587	+6.37
Ronald Reagan (R) 1st Term 1/1981-1/1985	5,085,673	5,088,875	+3,202	+0.06
Ronald Reagan (R) 2nd Term 1/1985-1/1989	5,088,875	5,316,349	+227,474	+4.47
George H.W. Bush (R) 1/1989-1/1993	5,316,349	5,478,918	+162,569	+3.06
Bill Clinton (D) 1st Term 1/1993-1/1997	5,478,918	5,684,684	+205,766	+3.76
Bill Clinton (D) 2nd Term 1/1997-1/2001	5,684,684	5,802,000	+117,316	+2.06
George W. Bush (R) 1st Term 1/2001-1/2005	5,802,000	5,851,991	+49,991	+0.86
George W. Bush (R) 2nd Term 1/2005-1/2009	5,851,991	5,960,636	+108,645	+1.86
Barack Obama (D) 1st Term 1/2009-1/2013	5,960,636	5,705,642	-254,994	-4.28
Barack Obama (D) 2nd Term 1/2013-1/2017	5,705,642	5,791,153	+85,511	+1.50
Donald Trump (R) 1st Term 1/2017-1/2021	5,791,153	5,720,805	-70,348	-1.21
Joe Biden (D) 1/2021-1/2025	5,720,805	5,922,243	+201,438	+3.52

Total Labor Force Change by Entire Presidency
1. Bill Clinton: +323,082
2. Jimmy Carter: +304,587
3. Ronald Reagan: +232,676
4. Joe Biden: +201,438
5. George H.W. Bush: +162,569
6. George W. Bush: +158,636
7. Donald Trump: -70,348
8. Barack Obama: -169,483
Total by Party
Democratic: +659,624
Republican: +483,533

Next up, Employment.

State of Ohio	Employment Data
President	Figure at Term Beginning	Figure at Term End	Net Change	% Change
Jimmy Carter (D) 1/1977-1/1981	4,423,538	4,629,708	+206,170	+4.66
Ronald Reagan (R) 1st Term 1/1981-1/1985	4,629,708	4,633,809	4,101	+0.09
Ronald Reagan (R) 2nd Term 1/1985-1/1989	4,633,809	5,032,921	+399,112	+8.61
George H.W. Bush (R) 1/1989-1/1993	5,032,921	5,092,311	+59,390	+1.18
Bill Clinton (D) 1st Term 1/1993-1/1997	5,092,311	5,396,922	+304,611	+5.98
Bill Clinton (D) 2nd Term 1/1997-1/2001	5,396,922	5,577,863	+180,941	+3.35
George W. Bush (R) 1st Term 1/2001-1/2005	5,577,863	5,484,332	-93,531	-1.68
George W. Bush (R) 2nd Term 1/2005-1/2009	5,484,332	5,437,168	-47,164	-0.86
Barack Obama (D) 1st Term 1/2009-1/2013	5,437,168	5,279,345	-157,823	-2.90
Barack Obama (D) 2nd Term 1/2013-1/2017	5,279,345	5,489,730	+210,385	+3.99
Donald Trump (R) 1st Term 1/2017-1/2021	5,489,730	5,370,247	-119,483	-2.18
Joe Biden (D) 1/2021-1/2025	5,370,247	5,651,168	+280,921	+5.23

Total Employment Change by Entire Presidency
1. Bill Clinton: +485,552
2. Ronald Reagan: +403,213
3. Joe Biden: +280,921
4. Jimmy Carter: +206,170
5. George H.W. Bush: +59,390
6. Barack Obama: +52,562
7. Donald Trump: -119,483
8. George W. Bush: -140,695
Total by Party
Democratic: +1,025,205
Republican: +202,425

Now Unemployment.

State of Ohio	Unemployment Data
President	Figure at Term Beginning	Figure at Term End	Net Change	% Change
Jimmy Carter (D) 1/1977-1/1981	357,548	455,965	+98,417	+27.53
Ronald Reagan (R) 1st Term 1/1981-1/1985	455,965	455,066	-899	-0.2
Ronald Reagan (R) 2nd Term 1/1985-1/1989	455,066	283,428	-171,638	-37.72
George H.W. Bush (R) 1/1989-1/1993	283,428	386,607	+103,179	+36.40
Bill Clinton (D) 1st Term 1/1993-1/1997	386,607	287,762	-98,845	-25.57
Bill Clinton (D) 2nd Term 1/1997-1/2001	287,762	224,137	-63,625	-22.11
George W. Bush (R) 1st Term 1/2001-1/2005	224,137	367,659	+143,522	+64.03
George W. Bush (R) 2nd Term 1/2005-1/2009	367,659	523,468	+155,809	+42.38
Barack Obama (D) 1st Term 1/2009-1/2013	523,468	426,297	-97,171	-18.56
Barack Obama (D) 2nd Term 1/2013-1/2017	426,297	301,423	-124,874	-29.29
Donald Trump (R) 1st Term 1/2017-1/2021	301,423	350,558	+49,135	+16.30
Joe Biden (D) 1/2021-1/2025	350,558	271,075	-79,483	-22.67

Total Unemployment Change by Entire Presidency
1. Barack Obama: -222,045
2. Ronald Reagan: -172,537
3. Bill Clinton: -162,470
4. Joe Biden: -79,483
5. Donald Trump: +49,135
6. Jimmy Carter: +98,417
7. George H.W. Bush: +103,179
8. George W. Bush: +299,331
Total by Party
Democratic: -365,581
Republican: +279,108

And finally, the Unemployment Rate

State of Ohio	Unemployment Rate Data
President	Figure at Term Beginning	Figure at Term End	Net Change
Jimmy Carter (D) 1/1977-1/1981	7.5	9.0	+1.5
Ronald Reagan (R) 1st Term 1/1981-1/1985	9.0	8.9	-0.1
Ronald Reagan (R) 2nd Term 1/1985-1/1989	8.9	5.3	-3.6
George H.W. Bush (R) 1/1989-1/1993	5.3	7.1	+1.8
Bill Clinton (D) 1st Term 1/1993-1/1997	7.1	5.1	-2.0
Bill Clinton (D) 2nd Term 1/1997-1/2001	5.1	3.9	-1.2
George W. Bush (R) 1st Term 1/2001-1/2005	3.9	6.3	+2.4
George W. Bush (R) 2nd Term 1/2005-1/2009	6.3	8.8	+2.5
Barack Obama (D) 1st Term 1/2009-1/2013	8.8	7.5	-1.3
Barack Obama (D) 2nd Term 1/2013-1/2017	7.5	5.2	-2.3
Donald Trump (R) 1st Term 1/2017-1/2021	5.2	6.1	+0.9
Joe Biden (D) 1/2021-1/2025	6.1	4.6	-1.5

Total Unemployment Rate Change by Entire Presidency
1. Ronald Reagan: -3.7
2. Barack Obama: -3.6
3. Bill Clinton: -3.2
4. Joe Biden: -1.5
5. Donald Trump: +0.9
6. Jimmy Carter: +1.5
7. George H.W. Bush: +1.8
8. George W. Bush: +4.9
Total by Party
Democratic: -6.8
Republican: +3.9

Presidents Ranked by Ohio Performance Overall Per Average Rank Position
1. Bill Clinton/Ronald Reagan: 2.0
2. Joe Biden: 3.75
3. Barack Obama: 4.25
4. Jimmy Carter: 4.5
5. Donald Trump: 6.0
6. George H.W. Bush: 7.0
7. George W. Bush: 7.5

It seems pretty clear based on this that Ohio does significantly better when Democrats are in the Oval Office. They produced 5x the number of jobs and moved the unemployment rate down by an average of -1.7 points, while Republicans moved it up by an average of almost 1 point. Every single metric measured by the BLS did better under Democrats. Only Reagan really stood out for Republicans while even Carter- regularly derided as a terrible president- did better than all 3 other Republicans on the list. In regards to the two most recent presidents from both parties, Biden clearly had much more favorable numbers than Trump did in his first term.

Now, does this trend translate to the more local level? In an upcoming post, I will examine how the Columbus Metro performed

Strange Columbus- 1955 Nuclear Test Fallout

Posted on June 4, 2025 by admin

From 1945 until an atmospheric test moratorium in July, 1962, atomic bomb testing in Nevada was so common that Las Vegas tourists would hold parties just to watch the tests from their hotel rooms. Little was known, at least in the beginning, about the effects of nuclear fallout, or just how far it could actually spread.

On April 18, 1955, during what was known as Operation Teapot, the Columbus Dispatch reported that radiation from the testing site had reached Columbus.

The radiation had come from the MET test which occurred on April 15, 1955. The bomb was 22 kilotons in size. The video above is from the MET test itself.

Events like this happened several times as the jet stream carried radioactive fallout across the country, and the 1955 nuclear test fallout wouldn’t be the last. It’s unclear whether this fallout had any substantial health impacts long-term, locally or otherwise, but today we understand that even relatively low doses of radiation increase one’s risk for developing cancers down the road. Luckily, these increased levels tended to last a day or two only.

Worst Columbus Droughts

Posted on September 12, 2024 by admin

This drought map is for September 10th, 2024.

The Columbus area saw very little rain over the summer, and that trend has continued this September. This severe drought is affecting other parts of the state as well. How does the current dry period compare to the worst Columbus droughts historically, though?

Top 10 Longest Periods with No Measurable Precipitation, in Total Days
1. 9/13/1963-10/30/1963: 48
2. 9/2/1908-9/27/1908, 8/23/1964-9/17/1964: 26
3. 10/6/1924-10/30/1924: 25
4. 10/30/1917-11/22/1917: 24
5. 9/18/1897-10/10/1897, 9/23/1957-10/15/1957, 8/31/1985-9/22/1985: 23
6. 10/11/1952-11/11/1952, 8/24/2002-9/14/2002: 22
7. 5/1/1903-5/21/1903, 9/30/1934-10/20/1934, 5/21/2023-6/10/2023: 21
8. 8/21/1925-9/9/1925, 9/23/1938-10/12/1938, 9/11/1941-9/30/1941, 8/7/1951-8/26/1951, 11/1/1976-11/20/1976, 3/11/1999-3/30/1999, 9/15/2017-10/4/2017: 20
9. 7/5/1884-7/23/1884, 8/23/1887-9/10/1887, 10/16/1903-11/3/1903, 3/1/1910-3/19/1910, 9/8/1917-9/26/1917, 10/13/1927-10/31/1927, 8/22/1938-9/9/1938, 4/21/1980-5/9/1980: 19
10. 11/5/1884-11/22/1884, 9/15/1885-10/2/1885, 10/1/1920-10/18/1920, 8/6/1928-8/23/1928, 6/24/1944-7/11/1944, 5/18/1948-6/4/1948, 10/6/1953-10/23/1953, 8/23/1955-9/9/1955, 6/2/1994-6/19/1994, 6/25/1996-7/12/1996, 9/12/2014-9/29/2014, 9/2/2019-9/19/2019: 18

2024’s longest period without measurable precipitation was 17 days, from 6/6/2024 to 6/22/2024.

However, having no precipitation at all for a significant period of time is relatively rare, and the formation of a drought usually occurs just because of low precipitation, not just no precipitation. And that’s certainly the case for 2024.

Top 10 Longest Periods with the Most Consecutive Days with 0.1″ or Less
1. 9/13/1963-10/30/1963: 48
2. 10/26/1904-12/9/1904: 45
3. 9/30/1924-11/12/1924: 44
4. 2/9/1969-3/23/1969: 43
5. 8/18/1908-9/27/1908, 6/12/1936-7/22/1936: 41
6. 10/1/1887-11/9/1887: 40
7. 7/17/1910-8/24/1910, 8/19/2024-9/26/2024: 39
8. 12/3/1955-1/9/1956: 38
9. 1/6/1944-2/10/1944, 9/29/1944-11/3/1944: 36
10. 12/14/1985-1/16/1986: 34

2024 produced the 9th longest period where daily rainfall failed to surpass 0.1″ for 39 consecutive days. Only 2 days during that period saw any measurable rainfall whatsoever.

The Summer of 2024 produced the 3rd lowest precipitation amount since reliable records began in 1879, with only the Dust Bowl years of 1930 and 1933 having slightly less. The 5.07″ that fell between June and August is extremely low. June’s precipitation was 6th lowest, July’s was a bit better at 16th lowest, and August’s was better still at 29th lowest. No month, though, saw 2″ or more, and the summer precipitation deficit was 7.68″ below normal, or less than 40% of normal.
September is starting off dry as well. It’s already more than an inch below normal through the 11th, and there hasn’t been a single day with 0.1″ or more since August 18th. The forecast doesn’t show much hope, either. No rain- not even a small chance of it- is currently predicted through September 18th. If this pattern continues long enough, reservoirs may become dangerously low.

For Franklin County specifically, as of September 10th, 100% of the county is in the classification of Severe Drought, and 66.4% is classified as being in Extreme Drought.

Strange Columbus July 31, 1949 UFO

Posted on July 30, 2024 by admin

From the files of Project Blue Book, this event had quite a few witnesses, particularly on the East Side of Columbus. The witnesses included local police, and the object was described as “unconventional aircraft”. It was reported by at least two media outlets at the time. Despite the witness accounts, the report concluded it was merely a conventional aircraft.

To view more incidents around the world, visit this link.
UFO Database

2023 Population Estimates of Columbus Metro Places

Posted on May 18, 2024 by admin

New 2023 population estimates of Columbus metro places were just released by the US Census. In general, they showed that most places are now recovering from the pandemic population decline blip.

First, the full list of all available population estimates for Columbus metro area incorporated places. This list does not include Census Designated Places, as estimates for those are only done once per decade. Red places have moved down in the rankings, green have moved up.

2023 Population Estimates by Columbus Metro Places

Rank

2020

2023

Columbus: 905,939

Columbus: 913,175

Newark: 49,948

Newark: 51,046

Dublin: 49,313

Dublin: 48,923

Delaware: 41,327

Delaware: 45,158

Grove City: 41,244

Grove City: 42,782

Reynoldsburg: 41,070

Lancaster: 41,422

Lancaster: 40,540

Reynoldsburg: 41,220

Westerville: 39,194

Westerville: 37,958

Hilliard: 37,113

Hilliard: 37,262

Upper Arlington: 36,795

Upper Arlington: 35,743

Gahanna: 35,726

Gahanna: 35,159

Marysville: 25,585

Marysville: 28,423

Pickerington: 23,100

Pickerington: 25,256

Whitehall: 20,127

Whitehall: 19,727

Pataskala: 17,883

Patakala: 18,346

Worthington: 14,783

Worthington: 14,497

Powell: 14,250

Powell: 14,491

Bexley: 13,925

Circleville: 14,452

Circleville: 13,925

Bexley: 12,785

New Albany: 11,053

New Albany: 11,335

Heath: 10,414

Heath: 10,693

London: 10,272

London: 10,533

Canal Winchester: 9,119

Canal Winchester: 9,777

Grandview Heights: 8,085

Grandview Heights: 8,841

Logan: 7,292

Sunbury: 8,340

Sunbury: 6,610

Logan: 7,166

Groveport: 6,009

Obetz: 6,971

Granville: 5,950

Granville: 6,281

Obetz: 5,483

Groveport: 5,806

Johnstown: 5,183

Johnstown: 5,310

Ashville: 4,533

Ashville: 4,760

New Lexington: 4,430

West Jefferson: 4,488

West Jefferson: 4,145

New Lexington: 4,447

Plain City: 4,103

Plain City: 4,338

Mount Gilead: 3,499

Mount Gilead: 3,533

Commercial Point: 3,079

Commercial Point: 3,215

Baltimore: 2,980

Baltimore: 2,991

Buckeye Lake: 2,516

Lithopolis: 2,708

Crooksville: 2,421

South Bloomfield: 2,660

Hebron: 2,325

Buckeye Lake: 2,588

Richwood: 2,222

Richwood: 2,494

South Bloomfield: 2,147

Crooksville: 2,402

Lithopolis: 2,142

Hebron: 2,384

Cardington: 2,079

Utica: 2,115

Utica: 2,067

Cardington: 2,101

Minerva Park: 2,012

Mount Sterling: 2,030

Mount Sterling: 1,944

Minerva Park: 1,944

Roseville: 1,745

Roseville: 1,740

Somerset: 1,482

Bremen: 1,502

Bremen: 1,478

Somerset: 1,473

Hanover: 1,271

Ashley: 1,318

Ashley: 1,201

Hanover: 1,317

Ostrander: 1,094

Ostrander: 1,197

Thornville: 1,083

Thornville: 1,092

Urbancrest: 1,031

Galena: 1,018

Millersport: 977

Williamsport: 1,012

Williamsport: 972

Urbancrest: 996

Pleasantville: 943

Millersport: 975

Galena: 929

Pleasantville: 951

Shawnee Hills: 836

Shawnee Hills: 915

Milford Center: 805

Milford Center: 903

New Holland: 803

New Holland: 830

Junction City: 722

Junction City: 720

Amanda: 669

Marble Cliff: 699

Valleyview: 668

Amanda: 680

New Straitsville: 653

New Straitsville: 651

Marble Cliff: 638

Valleyview: 647

Thurston: 606

Thurston: 605

Riverlea: 596

Stoutsville: 577

Stoutsville: 578

Riverlea: 575

Buchtel: 519

Buchtel: 513

Laurelville: 512

Shawnee: 500

Shawnee: 504

Carroll: 500

Carroll: 501

Laurelville: 498

Corning: 489

Alexandria: 490

Alexandria: 481

Corning: 485

Kirkersville: 468

Kirkersville: 477

Sugar Grove: 427

Edison: 441

Edison: 420

Sugar Grove: 425

Hartford: 401

Hartford: 404

St. Louisville: 351

St. Louisville: 363

Murray City: 345

Murray City: 336

South Solon: 326

Harrisburg: 313

Harrisburg: 309

Rushville: 306

Rushville: 304

Marengo: 280

Magnetic Springs: 293

Midway: 269

Marengo: 280

Magnetic Springs: 261

Midway: 269

Tarlton: 254

Tarlton: 264

Fulton: 249

Unionville Center: 239

Unionville Center: 234

Lockbourne: 237

Lockbourne: 229

Gratiot: 214

Gratiot: 216

Chesterville: 194

Chesterville: 195

Darbyville: 185

Darbyville: 189

West Rushville: 165

Glenford: 165

Glenford: 164

Hemlock: 145

Sparta: 122

Sparta: 123

100

Brice: 94

Brice: 91

Out of Ohio’s 925 incorporated communities, 660 showed a population loss between 2020-2023, or 71.35%. 27 saw no population change, and 238- or 25.73%- saw population growth.
In the Columbus metro, however, 60% of its communities saw growth, with 6% seeing no change and 34% seeing a loss. The Columbus metro places represented just 5.15% of the total communities seeing loss within the state, but 25.73% of all the communities seeing growth. This shows just how poorly most of the state is doing in comparison to the Columbus area.

All Columbus Data

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Category Archives: Columbus Events

Politics and Ohio’s Economic Performance

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Strange Columbus- 1955 Nuclear Test Fallout

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Worst Columbus Droughts

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Strange Columbus July 31, 1949 UFO

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2023 Population Estimates of Columbus Metro Places

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