Trump touts 303,000 US job additions — more than double what the government reported in October

Associated Press

• President Donald Trump appeared to falsely claim on Twitter Friday that the economy added more than 300,000 jobs in October.
• The official employment report released just before showed a monthly payroll increase that was less than half of that. 
• As he faces an impeachment inquiry ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, Trump has increasingly sought to paint a rosy picture of the economy.
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President Donald Trump appeared to falsely claim Friday that the economy added more than 300,000 jobs in October. The official employment report released just before showed a monthly payroll increase that was less than half of that. 

“Wow, a blowout JOBS number just out, adjusted for revisions and the General Motors strike, 303,000,” the president wrote on Twitter, though that number did not reflect labor market activity last month. “This is far greater than expectations. USA ROCKS!”

A half hour before that, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the US added 128,000 nonfarm payrolls last month. The gain was stronger than expected and pointed to a solid labor market, but remained far below the figure the Trump administration had asserted. 

“Pretty easy,” said White House spokesperson Judd Deere, when outlining how the White House arrived at the inflated number. 

He said the administration added previous upward revisions to the October figure, even though those 95,000 jobs were created between August and September. 

Administration officials also incorporated 20,000 temporary federal workers who had left after they finished work for the 2020 Census. Asked why they counted positions that no longer existed, Deere responded: “How else would you take in revisions? Are you just supposed to ignore them?”

The remaining payrolls in the inflated figure were tacked on to account for a historic strike at General Motors, the White House said. The work stoppage shuttered factories for 40 days and temporarily left at least 50,000 out of work, according to the Labor Department. 

As he faces a rapidly-unfolding impeachment inquiry ahead of his 2020 re-election bid, Trump has increasingly sought to paint a rosy picture of the economy in recent weeks. 

“Stock Market up BIG!” Trump continued Friday morning. “Record highs for S&P 500 and NASDAQ. Enjoy!”

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