Communications

Asked by the White House press corps about the probability that Thursday’s report of jobs “saved/created” will not square with White House predictions, Robert Gibbs said, “We’re not worried about whatever discrepancy it is you’re trying to make into a much bigger story.”

This isn’t the first time the White House has disregarded simple math in their quest to justify bad economic policy.

In February, the president promised, “Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs.  More than 90% of these jobs will be in the private sector.”  Watch here.

But government data reported that the economy was actually losing jobs rather than adding them. 

So, Jared Bernstein, chief economic advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, explained that the White House was projecting what the level of employment would have been if the stimulus had not passed in February.

However, the government’s official job counters could not lend support to this new math.

When asked whether the administration’s claim of jobs added to the economy could be substantiated in a June hearing, BLS Commissioner Keith Hall replied, "No. That would be a very difficult thing for anybody to substantiate." Watch here.