Here's how Trump's first-year record on stocks and jobs compares to past presidents' performance

Jim Bourg | Reuters

President Donald Trump.

With the stock market reaching new highs and the labor market continuing to add jobs, President Donald Trump on Friday took the opportunity to take credit for the gains.

Trump boasted on Twitter: "This is all about the Make America Great Again agenda!"

Trump Tweet

It isn't the first time Trump has touted the stock market's new highs. As Trump approaches the end of his first 12 months in office, the jobs and stock markets have given the president solid gains to cheer about.

The economy has added roughly 1.8 million net new jobs since last December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. And with equities hitting new highs, the stock market has risen some 20 percent since he took office, as measured by the S&P 500 index.

But compared with other U.S. presidents, stock market gains during Trump's first year, while solid, aren't the biggest advances under the previous 12 occupants of the Oval Office.

Presidents Harry Truman and Barack Obama scored the biggest first-year stock market gains, largely because they came into office following deep sell-offs. The stock market posted the biggest losses during the first years of Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush.

Stock investors have cheered some of the dramatic changes in policies brought by the Trump administration — from deep tax cuts for corporations to an easing of regulations on both large and small businesses.

But over the longer term, stock market performance under past presidents also has been driven by forces beyond the control of the White House, including periodic recessions. With the start of the last recession now more than a decade in the rearview mirror, investors seem unconcerned about the prospect of another one on the horizon.

The same holds true when it comes to job creation.

Trump's first-year record is solidly in the middle of the pack compared with past presidents, as the overall level of U.S. payrolls are up some 1.3 percent since Trump took office. (The percentage gain is a fairer measure than total jobs created because Trump is presiding over a labor market that is much larger than it was decades ago.)

Those first-year jobs records have been based largely on economic cycles, with payroll gains and losses tied closely to the arrival of recessions.

As long as the economy continues to dodge the next recession, Trump's jobs record will continue to compare favorably with his predecessors.

WATCH: Where the jobs are: Trump's first year