Fact checking Obama’s State of the Union

President Barack Obama delivers the State of The Union address on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS

“Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis.”

True but misleading. The actual unemployment number, less than six percent, makes the economy sound like it is much stronger than it really is.

Yes the number is lower, but it gives us almost no context. It does not tell us how many people have stopped looking for work, how many are stuck in low wage jobs, or part time jobs.

When those variables are factored in, a measurement called U-6, we are still higher than pre-recession levels.

“Over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.”

True, but… President Barack Obama is again trying to create an image of a vibrant national economy that doesn’t exist.

Improving, yes, but it is not a cause for celebration as the State of the Union made it out to be. 11 million new jobs since 2010 is correct, but this does not measure the number of jobs lost, mostly in the public sector.

Since Obama became president the total gain in jobs is about 6.4 million — still a good number, but to get to 11 million the data has to be cherry picked.

“Our manufacturers have added almost 800,000 new jobs.”

Mostly false. The image President Obama is trying to create here is that manufacturing is booming, an industry Americans should be proud of once again.

In reality manufacturing is far from the strongest it has ever been; it isn’t even back to pre-recession levels. Yes, about 775,000 manufacturing jobs have been added, but they are certainly not “new.”

Millions of manufacturing jobs were lost during the recession and even after adding 775,000 there are still about 1.8 million less manufacturing jobs in the U.S. now compared to January 2007, just before the financial crisis boiled over.

“More than half of manufacturing executives have said they’re actively looking to bring jobs back from China.”

False. The President is most likely getting his numbers from a Boston Consulting group survey sent out last year.

54 percent of employers did say they were interested in bringing jobs back from overseas, but only 16 percent said they would or were doing so, and 20 percent said they would consider it in the near future.

More than half have shown interest, but to say they are actively looking is misleading, at best that number would be 36 percent.

“Our deficits cut by two-thirds.”

True. Thanks to a combination of sequester cuts and tax increases our deficits have fallen from over $1.4 trillion to $514 billion.

In GDP terms it fell from about 10 percent to about three, and is expected to be 2.6 for 2015.

However, as more baby boomers retire and draw benefits, the long term projections are for steady growth in deficit.

“That’s why this Congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work.”

False. Federal wage laws already prohibit wage discrimination on the basis of sex. President Obama has even admitted that women typically work in lower paying jobs than men do.

Women largely do receive equal pay for equal work. Much of the reason the average pay for women is lower is not due to discrimination, but to their lifestyle choices/obligations.

After lifestyles such as hours worked and motherhood are factored in, the gender pay gap is almost nonexistent.

Moreover, women now control 60 percent of wealth in the U.S., and almost all income growth in our generation has gone to women.

“Today, our younger students have earned the highest math and reading scores on record. Our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high. And more Americans finish college than ever before.”

True. While the U.S. still lags behind some other major developed countries in these categories, there is no doubt we are improving.

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