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"The GDP rate (4.2%) is higher than the unemployment rate (3.9%) for the first time in more than 100 years!" the president said in a tweet.
The first two digits are correct, although they measure completely different things and in different ways.
The overall economy of the United States grew at an annual rate of 4.2% in the second quarter. Unemployment ranged from 3.8% to 4% in the quarter and stood at 3.9% in August.
This is good news.
"It's certainly better when it's true than when that's not the case," said Justin Wolfers, professor of economics at the University of Michigan. "I like high GDP growth and low unemployment."
But Trump was wrong – when he said it had not happened in a century.
Over the past 70 years, this has occurred in at least 62 quarters, most recently in 2006.
"He was not even in the neighborhood of the right," Wolfers said in an interview.
Wolfers tweeted a response to Trump's claim. In fact, it took him two tweets to list every quarter when economic growth exceeded the unemployment rate. He added a graph.
"This is certainly not a natural comparison," Wolfers said. "I've never seen it before.This is not a macroeconomist who would do it.They are not comparable."
This is not just because the fall in unemployment is better, while the increase in GDP is better.
The unemployment rate is a monthly reading of the percentage of people in the job market looking for a job. This is a snapshot of a current condition.
GDP is a reading of the production of the entire economy. When economists talk about GDP growth, they do not talk about a snapshot of the current situation. They measure the change from the previous year. Quarterly GDP growth is also adjusted to reach the annual rate.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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