GINGRICH RIGHT ON JOB CREATION NUMBERS
PolitiFact.com: “(Newt) Gingrich talked (about) one particular achievement that he and his fellow members of Congress were able to accomplish with Republicans favorite Republican, President Ronald Reagan, during the 1980s. They created 16 million jobs during the Reagan years, he said. It could be done again under a Gingrich presidency, the candidate said.
“Perhaps. But we wondered if Gingrich was correct about that number under the Reagan years.
“Gingrich served in Congress from 1979 to 1999, the final four years as U.S. House Speaker. Reagan took office in 1981 and left the White House in January 1989. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps the most widely used data on employment, which can be accessed on its website on a month-by-month basis. In January 1981, the month Reagan took office, there were slightly more than 91 million Americans employed. By January 1989, the total was 107.1 million Americans.
“That’s an increase of 16.1 million employed Americans. . . . Gingrich’s numbers are accurate. Reagan’s policies, many of which required the support of Congress, deserve some credit for the increase. We rate Gingrich’s statement as True.”
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