JOBS AND MANUFACTURING
TRUMP: "We have created 5.3 million new jobs and importantly added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs."
THE FACTS: 5.3 million jobs have been added since President Trump's election in November 2016, but he did not become president until January 20, 2017.
Nearly 4.9 million jobs have been created since February 2017, including 454,000 manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate at 4 percent is at levels last seen in late 1999 and 2000. The uptick in the unemployment rate in the most recent jobs report was likely because of the government shutdown. The unemployment rate in November 2018 was 3.7 percent which was a level last seen in 1969, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
African American unemployment is at historic lows at 6.8 percent - but it has ticked up in recent months after hitting an all-time low of 6 percent toward the end of last year. Similarly, the Hispanic unemployment rate at 4.9 percent has ticked up from recent lows of 4.4 percent toward the end of last year.
WAGES
TRUMP: "Wages are rising at the fastest pace in decades, and growing for blue collar workers, who I promised to fight for, they're growing faster than anyone else thought possible."
THE FACTS: This is an unsupported statement because the data on hourly wages for private workers only goes back to 2006, not decades.
But data on wages for production workers date back to 1939 - and Trump's claim appears to be unfounded.
Average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory workers are up 3.4 percent over the past year, according to the Labor Department. Those wage gains were higher as recently as early 2009. And they were averaging roughly 4 percent before the start of the Great Recession in late 2007.
There are other ways to track wage gains - and those don't work in Trump's favor, either.
Adjusted for inflation, median weekly wages rose just 0.6 percent in 2018. The gains in weekly wages were 2.1 percent in 2015.
LIMITING LEGAL IMMIGRATION
TRUMP: "I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally."
THE FACTS: This is false. Trump has repeatedly sought to reduce the number of people legally allowed into the United States.
Last fall President Trump set the lowest cap in the history of the refugee admission program -- permitting only just 30,000 a year. In President Obama's last year he proposed a cap of 110,000 amid the height of the crisis in Syria. In fiscal year 2017 the Trump administration allowed the second fewest refugees ever.
Trump also won a battle in the Supreme Court to restrict all forms of travel and immigration from 7 countries, five of which have Muslim majority populations. Just last week, the administration began selectively enforcing a new policy at the southern border that requires migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their applications are processed. He has also called for the elimination of the diversity visa program, which typically awards up to 50,000 immigration visas each year.
MINORITY UNEMPLOYMENT
TRUMP: "African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded."
THE FACTS: What he's not saying is that the unemployment rates for all three groups have gone up since reaching record low levels.
Black unemployment reached a record low, 5.9 percent, in May, but rose to 6.8 percent in January.
Latino unemployment fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest ever, last October, and Asian unemployment fell to a record low of 2.2 percent in May. But Latino and Asian unemployment also have increased, in part because of the government shutdown, which elevated unemployment last month.
The African-American rate is still nearly double the jobless rate for whites, at 3.5 percent.
The most dramatic drop in black unemployment came under President Barack Obama, when it fell from a recession high of 16.8 percent in March 2010 to 7.8 percent in January 2017.
DRUG PRICE DECLINE
TRUMP: "As a result of my administration's efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years."
THE FACTS: This is mostly spin. While President Trump is correct that drug prices dropped in the last year - and that hasn't happened since 1972 - the drop was less than1 percent. Drug prices and spending remain at historically high levels - including for drugs like insulin, which more than doubled in price since 2012 - and many of Trump's efforts to bring down those costs haven't been enacted yet.
According to the Consumer Price Index, that dip is .62 percent looking at data collected from December 2017 to data from December 2018. Last fall, an Associated Press analysis examined the list prices for some 26,000 brand-name drugs and found 96 price hikes for every one price cut.
What Trump can point to in favor of consumers is an aggressive push by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during his administration to approve generic drugs. White House advisers in an October 2018 report estimated that the recent approval of generic drugs has resulted in $26 billion in savings for consumers that would have otherwise had to choose brand name drugs. Among those approved under Trump was the first generic version of EpiPen, the lifesaving auto injector used to treat emergency reactions. EpiPen injectors went from costing $100 in 2009 to $600 in 2016.
And while out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs remained mostly flat in 2017 - Trump's first year in office -- out-of-pocket physician and hospital costs increased.
Many of Trump's ideas to drive down drug costs haven't taken effect yet and are still winding their way through the rulemaking process. One proposal would upend the usual system of drug rebates when people buy prescription drugs through Medicare or Medicaid. The plan would prohibit drug makers from offering discounts or rebates to "pharmacy benefit managers" that administer drug plans. Instead, the manufacturers would be encouraged to provide rebates directly to consumers. Democrats pushed back, insisting they think the plan will raise costs for consumers.
Another proposal, announced last fall, is to limit what it pays for certain drugs for Medicare recipients by tying the price for some drugs to prices paid overseas. The measure, which would be phased in over several years, would only apply to certain types of drugs via Medicare that are administered by a physician. The drug industry fought back and said the administration was discouraging innovation.
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