Trump keeps touting the fact that more Americans are working than ever before. But the boast is almost meaningless for one key reason.
Joseph Zeballos-Roig
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 21, 2019.
Leah Millis/Reuters
President Trump touted his handling of the economy at a speech for the New York Economic Club on Tuesday, pointing out the historically high number of people working in the US as a measure of his success ahead of the 2020 election.
"We have the highest number of people working in our country, in the history of our country, almost 160 million people," Trump said.
But that figure is misleading for one key reason: The boost in the number of employed Americans largely tracks with the nation's population growth, as more Americans come of age and enter the workforce.
President Trump touted his handling of the economy at a speech for the New York Economic Club on Tuesday, pointing out the record number of people in the US who are employed as a measure of his success ahead of the 2020 election.
"We have the highest number of people working in our country, in the history of our country, almost 160 million people," Trump said. "We've never been close to that number."
The president is referring to the fact that just over 158.5 million Americans are now employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the BLS, the US workforce grew by 0.51% over the past year and is projected to grow by around 0.5% annually over the next decade until 2028. That closely tracks last year's US population of 0.62%, according to research from the Brookings Institution. It was the lowest rate registered in eight decades.
While an aggregate number of people with a job is increasing along with the overall population, as Trump touts, the percentage of Americans who are employed is not at a record. BLS data shows that 61% of the American population has a job, well below the record high of 64.7% set in April 2000 and pre- recession high of 63.4%.
Another measure of the how many people in America are working, the labor force participation rate, is also well off its highs. The labor participation rate, which is the percentage of Americans who are employed or actively looking for work, stands at 63%, a drop from the record rate of 67.3% from 2000.
And while the rate is lower as the percentage of Americans in retirement has grown, the participation rate among people aged 25 to 54 — which the BLS considers to be prime working age — has also slipped.
So while the total number of people working is higher, the labor market may not be as historically healthy as Trump wants to make it seem.
Trump repeating the claim also masks other problems within the national economy. Wage growth has not returned to pre-recession levels, even as employers compete for workers — though part of the reason may include rising spending on health insurance.
But it likely won't stop Trump from touting the record number of employed people, even if it leaves out key context, on the campaign trail and as he tries to make a case against impeachment proceedings in Congress.
"I think he's quite convinced he can successfully sell this is the greatest economy even if the numbers don't match that," conservative economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin previously told Business Insider. "The economy that matters is the one that's six to nine months out of the election, so next spring is the key."
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