Can We Trust Trump's Numbers?

He lied repeatedly about the numbers present for his inauguration; he lied repeatedly -- and he's now bringing it up again -- about losing the popular vote because three to five million "illegals" voted for Hillary. There is no -- repeat, NO -- backup for this absurd position. I'm aware of only one person caught voting illegally in the presidential election -- an Iowa woman who voted twice for Trump; why can they not produce ANY of this three to five million? Because they are a figment of Trump's imagination, some demented illusion ricocheting around inside that deranged brain.

Click here for an article at CNN, by Julia Horowitz, entitled "Will Trump team try to undermine official unemployment numbers?"

Sean Spicer tap-danced around a direct question: What does Trump say is the percentage of unemployment? It's actually about 4.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Is Trump trying to undermine the public's faith in the government numbers? During the campaign, when the figure was slightly over 5%, Trump said in a rally speech that he had heard it was 42%. Here's what he said in August:

"The 5% figure is one of the biggest hoaxes in American modern politics," Trump said during a speech in August, when unemployment was at 4.9%.

Andrew Puzder, Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, seems to be another statistics fabulist, which is bad news, since he'll be responsible for publishing the figures:

This skepticism will likely be compounded if fast food CEO Andrew Puzder is confirmed by the Senate to lead the Labor Department. Part of his job would be to oversee the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which publishes the unemployment rate on the first Friday of each month.

Since 2012, Puzder has written or co-written a host of op-eds blasting the bureau's method for crunching national job numbers. He claims it exaggerated the economic recovery under former President Obama.

"The official unemployment rate taken alone has become a very poor indicator of economic growth," Puzder wrote in a 2012 op-ed for the conservative website Human Events, though few economists look at the measure in isolation.

There is room for discussion about the methodology used to come up with the unemployment numbers; read the article for an analysis of how Puzder views the government figures.



Brace yourself for some "alternative facts."