During the Vice Presidential debate between incumbant Vice President Mike Pence and Sentator Kamala Harris, Pence claimed, “Because of the work of U.S. President Donald Trump, the American economy added 11.6 million jobs in summer and fall 2020 — regaining nearly half the jobs lost at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This is claim is misleading. Although these jobs were slowly added after the intitial drop of 22 millions jobs at the start of the pandemic, most of these jobs were added because businesses were able to bring back employees who were previously furloughed or end temporary shutdowns. There is no evidence that the job growth was because of the adminstration’s fiscal and regulatory policies. In fact, if anything, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, inacted by congress (not the president) in March, helped some small businesses bring back lost positions or keep workers who would otherwise have been laid off.
…the upward trend had little to do with the White House and everything to do with how businesses on a grand scale adapted to new rules on social distancing to curb the spread of the deadly virus. In March, for instance, California issued the first statewide “stay at home order” and New York City closed all non-essential businesses — both decisions that contributed to April’s historic job loss.
Then, over the weeks, employers developed plans for operating under public health officials’ recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19 and, as a result, were able to bring back workers who had been furloughed or reopen after a temporary shut down. Those trends significantly impacted job growth in the U.S. — not Trump.
