What did Donald Trump do today?
He tried to fudge his latest job numbers.
In a tweet dashed off this morning from his Florida resort, before yet another round of golf and a political fundraiser, Trump claimed that "More people are working today in the United States, 158,000,000, than at any time in our Country’s history."
This is true—because it's virtually always true, outside of the steepest recessions. Population growth means that more than 200,000 new jobs need to be created every month just to keep overall employment rates steady. Even when unemployment is rising, there are usually more Americans working at the end of each new month because there are always more Americans in total.
Trump appears to have been trying to distract from the fact that February saw only 20,000 jobs created.
This is true—because it's virtually always true, outside of the steepest recessions. Population growth means that more than 200,000 new jobs need to be created every month just to keep overall employment rates steady. Even when unemployment is rising, there are usually more Americans working at the end of each new month because there are always more Americans in total.
Trump appears to have been trying to distract from the fact that February saw only 20,000 jobs created.
Why does this matter?
- Spinning bad news doesn't make it good news.
- Lying with statistics is still lying.