section_path: Presidency (1977–1981)/Domestic policy/Economy
section_name: Economy
paragraph_text: Economy
  
  The first two years of Carter's presidency were a time of intense stagflation, primarily due to recovery from a previous recession that had left fixed investment at extreme lows and unemployment at 9%. Under Carter, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% when he took office to 5.7% by July 1978, but during the early 1980s recession it returned to its pre-1977 level. His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. Due to economic stimulus legislation, such as the Public Works Employment Act of 1977, proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median income had grown by 5.2%, with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter.
  
  The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, and as inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation and consumer confidence declined sharply. Federal Reserve Board chairman G. William Miller 's relatively loose monetary policy had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation, rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980. The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem and came to symbolize the crisis to the general public; the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of Amerada Hess refining facilities, led the federal government to sue the company that year.
  
  The first two years of Carter's presidency were a time of intense stagflation, primarily due to recovery from a previous recession that had left fixed investment at extreme lows and unemployment at 9%. Under Carter, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% when he took office to 5.7% by July 1978, but during the early 1980s recession it returned to its pre-1977 level. His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. Due to economic stimulus legislation, such as the Public Works Employment Act of 1977, proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median income had grown by 5.2%, with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter.
  
  The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, and as inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation and consumer confidence declined sharply. Federal Reserve Board chairman G. William Miller 's relatively loose monetary policy had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation, rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980. The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem and came to symbolize the crisis to the general public; the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of Amerada Hess refining facilities, led the federal government to sue the company that year.