Trump: The Jobless Rate Is a ‘Phony Number’

‘It’s a phony number, a number meant for politicians to make them look good’

BARNICLE: “Mr. Trump, the unemployment rate in Iowa is roughly about 4 percent. And the unemployment rate nationally is pretty descent when you look at it. But wage growth here in Iowa and across the country has not caught up apparently to the rise in the economy for a lot of people. For most people wage growth has remained stagnant. So, if you believe wage growth is stagnant, if you believe wage growth ought to be an important element of the economy, how do you go about linking up to the two?”
TRUMP: “Well, first of all, the median income which people don’t even talk about was higher 10 years ago than it is now. OK. So when you think about it. [indecipherable] the numbers when you hear the 5 percent, 4 percent, 6 percent, any number you hear its meaningless. Because people look for a job, they can’t find a job, they give up and now they’re statistically they considered employed. It’s a phony number. It’s a number that was meant for politicians to make them look good. But when you say 5.2 percent in this country, there’s no way. And frankly if it was really that number, I wouldn’t have 35,000 people coming to rallies. Believe me, they would not be coming. They wouldn’t have to come.” [crosstalk]
BRZEZINSKI: “But it’s not just jobless coming to the rallies, it’s wages. I mean, they have been flat for years.”
BARNICLE: “But, what about the paycheck?
TRUMP: “It’s also, the quality of the job. I don’t know if you saw the last report    . The quality of the jobs in unbelievably low. It’s unbelievably bad. And the other thing is part time jobs. People have par-time jobs now. People that had full-time jobs are now having part-time jobs.”
SCARBOROUGH: “So, how do we change that?”
TRUMP: “We have to bring the jobs back. We have to bring our manufacturing back. Right now China has it. By the way, Mexico is doing a number on us, it’s unbelievable. And I do great with the Hispanics, I love the Hispanics. I employ thousands of Hispanics right now. Tens of thousands  over the years. Mexicans they’re great people. I deal with them in so many different capacities. Their country is great. The leaders of Mexico so much smarter and more cunning. You know cunning is an important word. You know that word very well. But they’re more cunning than our leaders and they’re taking advantage. Companies are moving to Mexico.”

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