President Joe Biden has a funny grasp of the truth, whether it is about inflation or manufacturing jobs. He lays the blame for surging energy prices on mom-and-pop gasoline stations, or he tells consumers to just switch to a different raisin bran to fight rising costs. Of course, it is hard to fault the White House when officials are trying to peddle soundbites ahead of the midterm elections. But facts are stubborn things, so whatever the intent may be, it is imperative to correct the record and expose the fibs.
Manufacturing Jobs: The Truth
Biden tweeted on Oct. 30 that his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, lost 180,000 manufacturing jobs, but that his own administration has created 700,000 jobs so far. This tweet garnered plenty of attention, with 16,000 retweets and 77,000 likes. So, what about this statement? Well, it is misleading.
First, as Liberty Nation has noted on many occasions, Bidenomics has not created the ten million jobs the White House claims. Yes, all of the lost positions from the coronavirus pandemic have finally been returned to the economy. This means the Oval Office is responsible for overseeing about 500,000 new jobs. Second, before the COVID-19 public health crisis, there were 12.785 million manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It took until July 2022 to recover all of this employment. Therefore, with manufacturing payrolls totaling about 12.880 million, Biden has only helped create approximately 100,000, not the 700,000 he proclaims.
Biden has shared similar tweets in the past. The president recently remarked on social media that “I have the strongest record of growing manufacturing jobs in modern history.” Once again, this is not even remotely true because there have been a few other presidents with better 18-month records, including former President Richard Nixon, who added more than 1.3 million manufacturing jobs between February 1972 and August 1973.
Now, what about Biden’s predecessor? Did manufacturing plummet under Trump amid his trade war with the world’s second-largest economy? Not really. The BLS data show that President Trump presided over 400,000 new manufacturing jobs until the pandemic shut down the global economy. Ultimately, it comes down to how the Biden team calculates the figures and defines its terms. Perhaps it is a game of politics, but the White House wants to rely on statistics that make it appear in a positive light and depend on data that make the other guy look worse than he was.
James Carter, the director of the Center for American Prosperity at the America First Policy Institute, summarized the labor situation under the current administration: “Don’t be fooled by cherrypicked statistics. Any ‘expert’ who claims this administration is creating unprecedented numbers of jobs needs to find a new job. President Biden has merely presided over an employment rebound in the aftermath of the pandemic lockdowns.”
R or D – Manufacturing Is Coming Back
Joe Biden (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
Republicans and Democrats will milk the latest trend for their political aspirations. But it is true that manufacturing jobs are being reshored, as many corporations consider ditching China in favor of returning home or relocating to other Asian nations (India, Vietnam, and Thailand). Companies are getting perturbed by Beijing’s COVID-Zero lockdowns and global trade strife. Plus, the advantages businesses once enjoyed, particularly cheaper labor costs, are eroding with each passing year. Suffice it to say, American businesses are coming back to America.
Better Data Collection
By now, it is evident that Biden needs a better team to collect data and statistics. Or perhaps it is not his subordinates but rather himself. He is wrong on the most basic of facts. The White House may get a fraction of the story correct, but a closer look reveals that the administration is mendacious or misleading on any subject. The latest manufacturing job tweets might seem accurate on the surface. But a deeper dive into the US government’s numbers immediately disproves what Biden says.
