Whoops! Trump May Have Grossly Exaggerated The Number Of Americans Who Can't Find A Job

President-elect
Donald Trump
may have made a large error in his first
press conference
following his election win on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Trump was asked a standard question on the economy. He answered that there "are 96 million [people] wanting a job and they can't get [one]. You know that story. The real number. That's the real number."

According to CNBC's Senior Economics Reporter Steve Liesman, Trump's claim is off by around 91 million people.

Liesman stated there are indeed 96 million Americans who are at least 16 years old and not in the labor force. However, this figure includes 91 million Americans who are retired, sick, disabled, running their household or going to school.

The actual number of Americans who can't find a job stands at 5.4 million, Liesman added. In fact, this figure represents a decrease of 256,000 from a year ago and 1.7 million fewer than 2013's peaks.

Liesman continued that even by cutting Trump some slack, and factoring the number of people working part time because they can't find full-time work, he is still off by around 82 million.

Bottom line, Trump didn't field many questions about the economy during his press conference, but when he did, he "managed a rather colossal error."

Posted In: CNBCNewsPoliticsEventsEcon #sMediaGeneralCNBCDonald TrumpeconomicsSteve LiesmanUnemployment Rate
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