Walz's assertion about Trump losing the most manufacturing jobs among presidents is found to be unsubstantiated.
"It's accuracy that we're dealing with here, and Walz's statement falls short of the mark.
Facts Matter: Walz's assertion is incorrect. Official data reveals that substantially more manufacturing jobs were eliminated under the presidencies of George W. Bush (4.54 million), George H.W. Bush (1.27 million), Dwight D. Eisenhower (1.2 million), Gerald Ford (767,000) and Ronald Reagan (582,000) compared to during the Trump presidency (178,000). There were also slightly more manufacturing jobs lost under President Barack Obama (195,000) than under Trump, but this was predominantly due to Obama inheriting a severe economic recession.
It's fair to mention that, unlike Trump, most of these presidents had two terms in the White House. However, Trump doesn't even possess the record for manufacturing job losses among presidents who served just a single term (like George H.W. Bush) or a partial term (Ford served around 2 ½ years after succeeding President Richard Nixon).
Pre-pandemic, the economy expanded manufacturing jobs under Trump
It's crucial to remember that employment figures are influenced by a multitude of global and domestic conditions other than the president's office. And the fact that the economy shed manufacturing jobs during Trump's tenure was primarily due to the pandemic's impact in the fourth year.
From the beginning of Trump's presidency in January 2017 through February 2020, just before the pandemic struck, the economy surged with 414,000 manufacturing jobs.
Manufacturing employment, much like overall employment, nosedived as a significant portion of the US economy ground to a halt in March and April 2020 – shedding a staggering 1.3 million jobs in April 2020 alone.
The economy then promptly returned to adding manufacturing jobs, adding them each month from May to December 2020 before encountering a minor decline in January 2021. However, these gains were insufficient to make up for the losses of March and April 2020."
Walz's statement about manufacturing job losses during the Trump presidency doesn't align with the facts, as official data shows that significantly fewer manufacturing jobs were eliminated under Trump compared to other presidents. Despite pre-pandemic growth, the manufacturing sector experienced job losses during Trump's tenure primarily due to the pandemic's impact in the fourth year.
