[216] Furthermore, Reagan's approval ratings recovered and remained relatively high for the next four years.[217]
Reagan appointed Alan Greenspan to succeed Volcker in 1987. Greenspan raised interest rates in another attempt to curb inflation, setting off the Black Monday although the markets eventually recovered.[218] By 1989, the BLS measured the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent.[219] The inflation rate dropped from 12 percent during the 1980 election to under 5 percent in 1989. Likewise, the interest rate dropped from 15 percent to under 10 percent.[220] Yet, not all shared equally in the economic recovery, and both economic inequality[221] and the number of homeless individuals increased during the 1980s.[222] Critics have contended that a majority of the jobs created during this decade paid the minimum wage.[223]

Government spending
In 1981, in a effort to keep it solvent, Reagan approved a plan for cuts to Social Security. He later backed off of these plans due to public backlash.[224] He then created the Greenspan Commission to keep Social Security financially secure and in 1983, he signed amendments to raise both the program's payroll taxes and retirement age for benefits.