WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s inaugural address held familiar echoes of the campaign speeches that led to his presidential win: downbeat about the state of the nation, to the point of hyperbole. A look at some of his assertions:
___
TRUMP: “The jobs left, and the factories closed … the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.”
THE FACTS: The American economy is a lot healthier than the wreck Trump describes. Jobs have increased for a record 75 straight months. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in December, close to a nine-year low and to what economists consider full employment.
From July through September, the economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annual pace – fastest in two years. The Federal Reserve is so confident in the resiliency of the economy that it raised interest rates last month for only the second time in a decade.