2020 FactCheck: on Jobs


Donald Trump: FactCheck: 9 million jobs offset by 22.2 million job loss

Trump claimed the US economy has gained a record nine million jobs over the past three months.

FactCheck: The economy did add about 9.3 million jobs combined in May, June and July -- but that record increase immediately followed a much bigger record loss of about 22.2 million jobs in March and April. The economy is still down nearly 13 million jobs because of the coronavirus crisis. (Also, many of the jobs added were simply people returning to work after temporary layoffs.)

Source: CNN Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech Aug 28, 2020

Larry Kudlow: Fact check: unemployment fell to lowest rate of 3.5%

Kudlow claimed that the economy "was rebuilt in three years," saying, "Unemployment fell to the lowest rate of 3.5 percent." However, as good as that number was, the rate was already at 4.7 percent when Trump took office. In fact, Obama presided over a much steeper drop in unemployment in his second term, a 3.3-point drop in the rate, than Trump did in his first three years, a decline of 1.2 points. The numbers under Trump appear to be the continuation of a trend, not something new.
Source: NBC News Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech Aug 25, 2020

Joe Biden: I supported $15 minimum wage in NYC years ago

Bernie Sanders: What leadership is about, is going forward when it's not popular, when it's an idea that you get criticized for. So I'm proud of my leadership on many issues. Joe, since the campaign, has come around. I talked about raising that minimum wage 15-bucks-an-hour, four years ago, Joe.

Biden: So did I, and I went out and campaigned for it.

Sanders: $15 an hour?

Biden: $15 an hour, in New York City. Go to the Governor. You should be aware of it.

Sanders: I will talk to the Governor. I am not aware of it. Four years ago, it was a radical idea. Very few people in Congress were talking about it.

FactCheck by PolitiFact:Biden is right about his efforts in NYC. In 2015, Biden campaigned with NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo to boost NY's minimum wage to $15 per hour. Biden spoke for nearly 30 minutes and called "stagnant wages" the biggest issue facing the economy. Cuomo eventually signed legislation to gradually increase the hourly minimum wage to $15 for all New Yorkers.

Source: PolitiFact FactCheck on 11th Democratic 2020 primary debate Mar 16, 2020

Donald Trump: Fact-Check: Job creation has increased, but at lower rate

Trump said, "Under the last administration, over 300,000 working-age people dropped out of the workforce. In just 3 years, 3.5 million working-age people have joined the workforce. Since my election, the net worth of the bottom half of wage-earners has increased by 47%: 3 times faster than the increase for the top 1%. Wages are rising fastest for low-income workers, who have seen a 16% pay-increase since my election. This is a blue collar boom."

Fact -Check: Trump here is mixing apples and oranges, comparing the labor force participation rate under President Obama with the number of jobs created under his own administration. But they are different numbers. It's true the participation rate fell from 65.7% to 62.9% during Obama's two terms in office, partly because the population was aging. It has since rebounded this year to 63.2%. But the economy also added 11.6 million jobs during Obama's two terms, and job creation has increased at a slightly slower rate under Trump.

Source: NPR Fact-Check on 2020 State of the Union address Feb 4, 2020

  • The above quotations are from Fact-checking on 2020 Presidential, Gubernatorial, and Senatorial campaigns.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Jobs.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Donald Trump on Jobs.
  • Click here for more quotes by Joe Biden on Jobs.
2020 Presidential contenders on Jobs:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021