While the economy is displaying a great deal of vigor currently, President Trump may have been too enthusiastic about statistics in a Tweet on Monday. While the figures he cited were true, that the GDP rate was higher than the unemployment rate, Trump made another statement on in the tweet was not. According to his tweet, this was the first time in over 100 years that these numbers had been like this.
Several experts were quick to point out that, in reality, the GDP rate has topped the unemployment rate more than 60 times since 1948. University of Michigan professor and economist Justin Wolfers tweeted at the President each specific quarter in which this was the case in response.
It can be noted that this is the first time since 2006, a quite long stretch of time. President Trump has also claimed recently that the economy is possibly the best it’s been in US history, which others have dismissed as an absurd claim.
While the economy is in good shape currently, White House Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett stated that someone probably conveyed the message that it is the best it has been in 10 years, and mistakenly added a zero to that number. Whatever the case, Trump has been outspoken about his role in creating this economic upswing, while claiming that the Democratic Party would have tanked the GDP. These claims are also disputed amongst experts.
