[352][353][354][355]
Biden entered office nine months into a recovery from the COVID-19 recession and his first year in office was characterized by robust growth in real GDP, employment, wages and stock market returns, amid significantly elevated inflation. Real GDP grew 5.9%, the fastest rate in 37 years.[356][357] Amid record job creation, the unemployment rate fell at the fastest pace on record during the year.[358][359] By the end of 2021, inflation reached a nearly 40-year high of 7.1%, which was partially offset by the highest nominal wage and salary growth in at least 20 years.[360][361][362][363]

Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Main article: Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2020–2021)
Biden in a video conference with Vice President Harris and the U.S. National Security team, discussing the Fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021
American forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2020, under the provisions of a February 2020 US-Taliban agreement that set a May 1, 2021, deadline.[364] The Taliban began an offensive on May 1.[365][366] By early July, most American troops in Afghanistan had withdrawn.