Steady increase in the share of prime-age adults with jobs was underway before the current administration took office: Share of adults age 25 to 54 with jobs, 2000–2017

Date Actual Autopilot projection 2000 annual average
Jan-2000 81.8 81.46
Feb-2000 81.8 81.46
Mar-2000 81.7 81.46
Apr-2000 81.9 81.46
May-2000 81.5 81.46
Jun-2000 81.5 81.46
Jul-2000 81.3 81.46
Aug-2000 81.1 81.46
Sep-2000 81.1 81.46
Oct-2000 81.1 81.46
Nov-2000 81.3 81.46
Dec-2000 81.4 81.46
Jan-2001 81.4 81.46
Feb-2001 81.3 81.46
Mar-2001 81.3 81.46
Apr-2001 80.9 81.46
May-2001 80.8 81.46
Jun-2001 80.6 81.46
Jul-2001 80.5 81.46
Aug-2001 80.2 81.46
Sep-2001 80.2 81.46
Oct-2001 79.9 81.46
Nov-2001 79.7 81.46
Dec-2001 79.8 81.46
Jan-2002 79.6 81.46
Feb-2002 79.8 81.46
Mar-2002 79.6 81.46
Apr-2002 79.5 81.46
May-2002 79.4 81.46
Jun-2002 79.2 81.46
Jul-2002 79.1 81.46
Aug-2002 79.3 81.46
Sep-2002 79.4 81.46
Oct-2002 79.2 81.46
Nov-2002 78.8 81.46
Dec-2002 79 81.46
Jan-2003 78.9 81.46
Feb-2003 78.9 81.46
Mar-2003 79 81.46
Apr-2003 79.1 81.46
May-2003 78.9 81.46
Jun-2003 78.9 81.46
Jul-2003 78.8 81.46
Aug-2003 78.7 81.46
Sep-2003 78.6 81.46
Oct-2003 78.6 81.46
Nov-2003 78.7 81.46
Dec-2003 78.8 81.46
Jan-2004 78.9 81.46
Feb-2004 78.8 81.46
Mar-2004 78.7 81.46
Apr-2004 78.9 81.46
May-2004 79 81.46
Jun-2004 79.1 81.46
Jul-2004 79.2 81.46
Aug-2004 79 81.46
Sep-2004 79 81.46
Oct-2004 79 81.46
Nov-2004 79.1 81.46
Dec-2004 78.9 81.46
Jan-2005 79.2 81.46
Feb-2005 79.2 81.46
Mar-2005 79.2 81.46
Apr-2005 79.4 81.46
May-2005 79.5 81.46
Jun-2005 79.2 81.46
Jul-2005 79.4 81.46
Aug-2005 79.6 81.46
Sep-2005 79.4 81.46
Oct-2005 79.3 81.46
Nov-2005 79.2 81.46
Dec-2005 79.3 81.46
Jan-2006 79.6 81.46
Feb-2006 79.7 81.46
Mar-2006 79.8 81.46
Apr-2006 79.6 81.46
May-2006 79.7 81.46
Jun-2006 79.8 81.46
Jul-2006 79.8 81.46
Aug-2006 79.8 81.46
Sep-2006 79.9 81.46
Oct-2006 80.1 81.46
Nov-2006 80 81.46
Dec-2006 80.1 81.46
Jan-2007 80.3 81.46 
Feb-2007 80.1 81.46
Mar-2007 80.2 81.46
Apr-2007 80 81.46
May-2007 80 81.46
Jun-2007 79.9 81.46
Jul-2007 79.8 81.46
Aug-2007 79.8 81.46
Sep-2007 79.7 81.46
Oct-2007 79.6 81.46
Nov-2007 79.7 81.46
Dec-2007 79.7 81.46
Jan-2008 80 81.46
Feb-2008 79.9 81.46
Mar-2008 79.8 81.46
Apr-2008 79.6 81.46
May-2008 79.5 81.46
Jun-2008 79.4 81.46
Jul-2008 79.2 81.46
Aug-2008 78.8 81.46
Sep-2008 78.8 81.46
Oct-2008 78.4 81.46
Nov-2008 78.1 81.46
Dec-2008 77.6 81.46
Jan-2009 77 81.46
Feb-2009 76.7 81.46
Mar-2009 76.2 81.46
Apr-2009 76.2 81.46
May-2009 75.9 81.46
Jun-2009 75.9 81.46
Jul-2009 75.8 81.46
Aug-2009 75.6 81.46
Sep-2009 75.1 81.46
Oct-2009 75 81.46
Nov-2009 75.2 81.46
Dec-2009 74.8 81.46
Jan-2010 75.1 81.46
Feb-2010 75.1 81.46
Mar-2010 75.1 81.46
Apr-2010 75.4 81.46
May-2010 75.1 81.46
Jun-2010 75.2 81.46
Jul-2010 75.1 81.46
Aug-2010 75 81.46
Sep-2010 75.1 81.46
Oct-2010 75 81.46
Nov-2010 74.8 81.46
Dec-2010 75 81.46
Jan-2011 75.2 81.46
Feb-2011 75.1 81.46
Mar-2011 75.3 81.46
Apr-2011 75.1 81.46
May-2011 75.2 81.46
Jun-2011 75 81.46
Jul-2011 75 81.46
Aug-2011 75.1 81.46
Sep-2011 74.9 81.46
Oct-2011 74.9 81.46
Nov-2011 75.3 81.46
Dec-2011 75.4 81.46
Jan-2012 75.5 81.46
Feb-2012 75.5 81.46
Mar-2012 75.7 81.46
Apr-2012 75.7 81.46
May-2012 75.7 81.46
Jun-2012 75.6 81.46
Jul-2012 75.6 81.46
Aug-2012 75.7 81.46
Sep-2012 76 81.46
Oct-2012 76.1 81.46
Nov-2012 75.8 81.46
Dec-2012 76 81.46
Jan-2013 75.6 81.46
Feb-2013 75.8 81.46
Mar-2013 75.8 81.46
Apr-2013 75.9 81.46
May-2013 76 81.46
Jun-2013 75.9 81.46
Jul-2013 76 81.46
Aug-2013 75.9 81.46
Sep-2013 76 81.46
Oct-2013 75.6 81.46
Nov-2013 76.1 81.46
Dec-2013 76.2 81.46
Jan-2014 76.4 81.46
Feb-2014 76.4 81.46
Mar-2014 76.6 81.46
Apr-2014 76.5 81.46
May-2014 76.4 81.46
Jun-2014 76.8 81.46
Jul-2014 76.7 81.46
Aug-2014 76.8 81.46
Sep-2014 76.8 81.46
Oct-2014 77 81.46
Nov-2014 77 81.46
Dec-2014 77.1 81.46
Jan-2015 77.1 81.46
Feb-2015 77.2 81.46
Mar-2015 77.2 81.46
Apr-2015 77.2 81.46
May-2015 77.2 81.46
Jun-2015 77.2 81.46
Jul-2015 77.1 81.46
Aug-2015 77.2 81.46
Sep-2015 77.3 81.46
Oct-2015 77.3 81.46
Nov-2015 77.5 81.46
Dec-2015 77.5 81.46
Jan-2016 77.7 81.46
Feb-2016 77.8 81.46
Mar-2016 78 81.46
Apr-2016 77.7 81.46
May-2016 77.8 81.46
Jun-2016 77.8 81.46
Jul-2016 78 81.46
Aug-2016 77.8 81.46
Sep-2016 78 81.46
Oct-2016 78.2 81.46
Nov-2016 78.2 81.46
Dec-2016 78.2 81.46
Jan-2017 78.2  78.2 81.46
Feb-2017 78.3 78.2528 81.46
Mar-2017 78.5 78.3056 81.46
Apr-2017 78.6 78.3583 81.46
May-2017 78.4 78.4111 81.46
Jun-2017 78.5 78.4639 81.46
Jul-2017 78.7 78.5167 81.46
Aug-2017 78.4 78.5694 81.46
Sep-2017 78.9 78.6222 81.46
Oct-2017 78.8 78.675 81.46
Nov-2017 79  78.7278 81.46
Dec-2017 78.7806 81.46
Jan-2018 78.8333 81.46
Feb-2018 78.8861 81.46
Mar-2018 78.9389 81.46
Apr-2018 78.9917 81.46
May-2018 79.0444 81.46
Jun-2018 79.0972 81.46
Jul-2018 79.15 81.46
Aug-2018 79.2028 81.46
Sep-2018 79.2556 81.46
Oct-2018 79.3083 81.46
Nov-2018 79.3611 81.46
Dec-2018 79.4139 81.46
Jan-2019 79.4667 81.46

Notes: Dotted line denotes President Trump's January 2017 inauguration.

Source: Adapted from Figure 2 in “Autopilot Economy Tracker: Benchmarks to Beat in Order to Claim Policy-Driven Improvements to American Wages and Employment,” Economic Policy Institute, last updated December 8, 2017.

View the underlying data on epi.org.