Donald Trump Touts Youth Unemployment Hitting 50-Year Low

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives two thumbs u
Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Michelle Moons
Washington, DC

President Donald Trump heralded new Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data Friday morning, which show youth unemployment at a more than 50-year low.

“Just announced, youth unemployment is at a 50 year low!” wrote Trump:

The BLS announced Thursday, “From April to July 2018, the number of employed youth 16 to 24 years old increased by 2.0 million to 20.9 million.” The release continued, “The unemployment rate for youth was 9.2 percent in July, also little changed from July 2017”:

The 9.2 percent youth unemployment rate was the lowest since July 1966, according to the Wall Street Journal.

BLS said of the youth labor force:

The youth labor force–16- to 24-year-olds working or actively looking for work—grows sharply between April and July each year. During these months, large numbers of high school and college students search for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent employment This summer, the youth labor force grew by 2.6 million, or 12.7 percent, to a total of 23.0 million in July.

The top industries hiring youth from 16-24 this summer were leisure and hospitality (26%), retail trade (18%), and education and health services (11%), according to BLS.

The youth labor force participation in July 2018 was up 1.2 percent for women and down 1.2 percent for men over the year.

Trump next tweeted, “The U.S. has more than double the growth rate than it had 18 months ago”:

U.S. Real GDP rose 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018. The rise in the first quarter of 2017 was 1.8 percent.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.

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