Right-wing media personalities have long claimed that the economy is worse off than it is in reality by citing inappropriate figures to distort the full picture. They claim that the “real” unemployment rate is much higher than the figure reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and they often point to the labor force participation rate as the main indicator of how healthy job growth is. Donald Trump has claimed that the unemployment rate is as high as 42 percent, saying “these are the real unemployment numbers – the 5 percent figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in modern politics.” PolitiFact gave that claim a rating of “Pants on Fire,” its worst possible verdict, but right-wing media have repeatedly enabled this lie by claiming that as many as 94 million Americans are "not in the labor force," failing to note that this 94 million includes: students, retirees, stay-at-home parents, and those institutionalized in mental health or penal facilities.
Video: What Right-wing Media Get Wrong About The Unemployment Rate
Media Matters for America, Media Matters for America
Thu, 09/15/2016 - 6:07am
Topics: labor statistics bls politifact pants fire august october conservative president obama bush cnn money john j heldrich center workforce development rutgers university the donald trump donald trump americans obama right-wing media unemployment rate percent participation population economy decline claimed improving ratio recession higher claim repeatedly real economic million figure official job health
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