2004 FactCheck: on Jobs

George W. Bush: FactCheck: Bush lost 1.6M PRIVATE jobs, gained some in gov’t

CNN FACT CHECK:Kerry is correct that Bush is on track to have a net loss of jobs by the end of his first term, and possibly to become the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with a net loss in jobs. However the 1.6 million figure that Kerry refers to in his speech overstates the scope of the nation’s total job loss. This number refers to the total number of private sector jobs lost since January 2001, when Bush took office, through August 2004. The 1.6 million figure does not factor in a net increase in public sector jobs, which reduces the loss in overall jobs to 821,000. The Kerry campaign explains this distinction in a fact sheet to reporters, but on the stump, Kerry himself only says that 1.6 million jobs were lost, without clarifying that he is referring to only private sector jobs, and not all jobs overall.

John Kerry: FactCheck: 0.6M jobs lost under Bush, not 1.6M

FACT CHECK: It is true that figures released earlier in the day show the economy is still down by 1.6 million private sector jobs since Bush took office, but the drop in total payroll employment-including teachers, firemen, policemen and other federal, state and local government employees-is down by much less than that-821,000. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced a revision would add an estimated 236,000 payroll jobs to the total reducing the total to 585,000 jobs lost under Bush, about one-third of the number Kerry stated. But Kerry may turn out to be correct when he said Bush would be “the first president in 72 years to lose jobs.” Payroll employment has been growing at roughly 100,000 jobs per month for the past four months, and there are only four months to go until the end of Bush’s term in January, 2005.

Dick Cheney: FactCheck: Yes, 1.7M jobs added, but still net loss of 0.9M

CHENEY: The data he’s using is old data. It’s from 2003. It doesn’t include any of the gains that we’ve made in the last years. We’ve added 1.7 million jobs to the economy.

FACT CHECK: Both Edwards and Cheney quoted selective and misleading figures about jobs. Cheney correctly noted that 1.7 million jobs have been added in the past year, since payroll employment bottomed out in August of last year. New employment figures are due on Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the last report before election day. It now appears certain that Bush and Cheney will end their term with payroll employment still below where it was when they took office, the first time that’s happened since the Hoover administration. The net loss in total employment is actually 913,000 as of August

John Edwards: FactCheck: 1.6 million jobs lost ignores federal employment

CHENEY: The data he’s using is old data. It’s from 2003. It doesn’t include any of the gains that we’ve made in the last years. We’ve added 1.7 million jobs to the economy.

FACT CHECK: Both Edwards and Cheney quoted selective and misleading figures about jobs. Edwards said 1.6 million private sector jobs and 2.7 million manufacturing jobs had been lost during the Bush administration. Both figures are accurate, but omit the growth in employment by federal, state and local governments. The net loss in total employment is actually 913,000 as of August, the most recent figures available. Cheney claimed Edwards was using old data from 2003, which wasn’t the case.

Carol Moseley-Braun: Fact Check: Claims Bush cost US 6M jobs - really only 3.2M

MOSELEY-BRAUN: [Bush is] the worst president on the economy, in terms of jobs, 6 million jobs lost.

FACTCHECK: Actually, the economy hasn’t lost anything close to 6 million jobs. As of the latest figures released last month, the economy had 2.3 million fewer total jobs in November than when Bush took office. Even at the worst of the job slump last July, the job loss was just 2.7 million. Note: Many Democrats like to cite the loss in private sector jobs, not total employment. Focusing only on private-sector jobs ignores the tens of thousands of new government workers hired-including teachers, policemen and federal airport security workers-and makes the job slump sound worse than it was. But even the loss of private-sector jobs under Bush now stands at 2.7 million according to most recent statistics. It did go to 3.2 million at the worst of the slump.

Howard Dean: Fact Check: Claims Bush cost US 3M jobs - really only 2.7M

DEAN: “This president has lost 3 million jobs. 3 millions jobs lost is 3 million too many.”

LIEBERMAN: “Three and half million people have lost their jobs.”

FACTCHECK: In fact, as of November the job loss since President Bush took office in January 2001 stood at 2.26 million, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even at the worst point of the job slump last August the job loss was 2.7 million-not 3 million or 3.5 million. Note: Many Democrats like to cite the loss in PRIVATE SECTOR jobs, not TOTAL employment. Focusing only on private-sector jobs ignores the tens of thousands of new government workers hired-including federal airport security workers-and makes the job slump sound worse than it was. But even the loss of PRIVATE-SECTOR jobs under Bush now stands at 2.7 million according to most recent statistics. It did go to 3.2 million at the worst of the slump, which is when many Dems started using the 3-million figure.

Joseph Lieberman: Fact Check: Claims Bush cost US 3.5M jobs - really only 2.7M

DEAN: “This president has lost 3 million jobs. 3 millions jobs lost is 3 million too many.”

LIEBERMAN: “Three and half million people have lost their jobs.”

FACTCHECK: In fact, as of November the job loss since President Bush took office in January 2001 stood at 2.26 million, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even at the worst point of the job slump last August the job loss was 2.7 million-not 3 million or 3.5 million. Note: Many Democrats like to cite the loss in PRIVATE SECTOR jobs, not TOTAL employment. Focusing only on private-sector jobs ignores the tens of thousands of new government workers hired-including federal airport security workers-and makes the job slump sound worse than it was. But even the loss of PRIVATE-SECTOR jobs under Bush now stands at 2.7 million according to most recent statistics. It did go to 3.2 million at the worst of the slump, which is when many Dems started using the 3-million figure.