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Getty Images President Donald Trump said October’s jobs number could have been much bigger had a number of adjustments been made.
Markets and economists got an “October surprise” Friday when the government reported a better-than-expected jobs figure. But in a tweet that turned heads, President Donald Trump put a very rosy spin on those numbers.
Trump said the U.S. could have seen 303,000 jobs added in October, more than double the 128,000 reported by the Labor Department.
Read: U.S. adds better-than-expected 128,000 jobs in October as economy holds strong.
Larry Kudlow, the head of the National Economic Council, explained Trump’s math during an interview on Fox Business Network.
To the 128,000 figure, Kudlow added: 95,000 from prior-month revisions; 60,000 to adjust for striking General Motors GM, +1.68% workers; and 20,000 Census workers who left their jobs.
“That is a blowout number,” Kudlow said. “We’ve seen nothing like it.”
As MarketWatch wrote, employment may have grown by nearly 200,000 absent the GM strike and the end of 20,000 temporary Census jobs.
Yet the 95,000 jobs Kudlow is referring to were added from September and August.
Now see: Economists hail ‘October surprise’ as job growth beats expectations.
The White House, during any administration, has not previously factored prior month job creation into the current month.
