[finnbow]

WASHINGTON (AP)— Just last month, President Donald Trump was crowing about his chances for seeing the U.S. post 3 percent economic growth in 2017 and scoffing at the skeptics who predicted much less. Turns out the skeptics — actually, mainstream economists — were right and he was wrong...

TRUMP: “After years of stagnation, the United States is once again experiencing strong economic growth.”

THE FACTS: This is an exaggeration. The economy is doing better by some measures but data released right as Trump finished speaking shows it hasn’t yet accelerated meaningfully since his inauguration.

TRUMP: “Since my election, we’ve created 2.4 million jobs. And that number is going up very, very substantially.”

THE FACTS: Actually, job growth is going down.

Looking at annual totals, rather than since the November 2016 election, U.S. companies and other employers added 2.1 million jobs in 2017. That was actually the lowest job growth in seven years.

TRUMP: “The tax cut bill is expected to raise the average American’s household income by more than $4,000.”

THE FACTS: Most mainstream economists are skeptical of this figure. The average household will see its income rise $1,610 in 2018 because of cuts in income tax, according to the Tax Policy Center.

TRUMP: “The world’s largest company, Apple, announced it plans to bring $245 billion in overseas profits home to America. Their total investment into the United States economy will be more than $350 billion over the next five years.”

THE FACTS: This is misleading: It’s not clear from Apple’s statement that it is actually increasing investment in the U.S. from its current levels.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...9dd_story.html