3.9% the month he was appointed to 4.2% after his appointment removed the uncertainty. if fairness, the tax cuts did not become law until june 2001 when unemployment had risen to 4.5%. how many jobs did they create when they were signed into law? unemployment rose to 4.6% the next month. 4.9% the month after that and 5%, 5.3%, 5.5%. what about his secretary round of tax cuts in may of '03 when it rose to 6.1. it rose to 6.3% the next month. in all the years of his presidency, the unemployment rate dropped below 4.5 when he signed the first tax cuts in just four months, dropping to 4.po 4, four times in 2006. in the middle of a housing boom. let's go to washington director of a nonpartisan policy think tank.