In his flub-filled State of the Union Address this week, where he uttered lies about America's struggling economy, President Joe Biden regurgitated an oft-repeated claim on the number of total jobs he's supposedly "created" since he entered the Oval Office.
CLAIM: "Two years ago, the economy was reeling. I stand here tonight after we've created, with the help of many people in this room, 12 million new jobs—more jobs created in two years than any president has created in four years—because of you all, because of the American people," Biden claimed during Tuesday night's speech in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.
BIDEN: "Two years ago, the economy was reeling. I stand here tonight after we've created...12 million new jobs." pic.twitter.com/XZdp6qxznw
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 8, 2023
FACTS: As Townhall previously deconstructed, Biden's definition of job creation conflates the generation of new jobs with the natural return of workers to the workforce following the government's shuttering of businesses that ravaged U.S. industry and drove working-class Americans home. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the nation lost more than 20 million jobs between March 2020 and April 2020. Though we're adding jobs back, Biden's jobs creation claim doesn't calculate net gain.
Biden was inaugurated when the nation recovered from the sudden job losses that stemmed from the government-mandated pandemic lockdowns in 2020. The jobs recovery began under former President Donald Trump, but because his tenure ended only eight months into the economic-revival cycle, much of the job gains accrued during Biden's time in office.
"This is literally evidence that Biden was handed something on a golden platter," Douglas Holtz-Eakin, head of American Action Forum, a think tank, told PolitiFact. "This recovery from a deep recession would have happened no matter who was president."
But, while Biden is benefiting from the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on the economy and the rehiring of workers who lost their jobs during the shutdowns, the labor-force participation rate is still trailing pre-pandemic levels. The proportion of adults who either had a job or were looking for one edged to 62.4% in January, which is below the pre-pandemic level of 63.4%, according to a Feb. 3 summary of America's employment situation released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, most Americans—60% of them—believe that Biden has not created more "good jobs" in their communities, a Washington Post-ABC News poll published on Feb. 3 found. Compare that to just a third of Americans who think otherwise.
As Biden touts that he's created 12 million new jobs...
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 8, 2023
Reminder that yesterday's Washington Post poll found that 60% of Americans believe Biden has NOT made progress in creating good jobs in their community. pic.twitter.com/8yTzW78FT9
As for Biden's boast that he has produced more jobs in two years than "any president has created in four years," by percentage, the purported job growth in the first two years of Biden's presidency falls behind that from the full terms of his predecessors.
Percantage-wise, U.S. jobs under Biden's watch has increased by 8.5% since his presidential term started, which is less than that of former President Barack Obama's first term (8.6%), President Bill Clinton's first term (10.5%), President Ronald Reagan's second term (11.2%), and President Jimmy Carter's four years in the White House (12.8%), the New York Times calculates.
Using this metric, PolitiFact measured that Biden's percentage of job gains is also outmatched by former President Richard Nixon's 13.2%, President Lyndon B. Johnson's 21.3%, and Clinton's 20.9%, in terms of increase from the start of their term.
RATING: Biden frequently touts job creation, but his misleading claim takes credit for recuperating previously lost jobs.