CNN goes through the data and shows how a campaign like Obama's can make claims that are technically factual but do not accurately portray the truth.
Conclusion about Obama and Democrats' highly touted 4.5 million jobs created number, via CNN:
The figure of 4.5 million jobs is accurate if you look at the most favorable period and category for the administration. But overall, there are still fewer people working now than when Obama took office at the height of the recession.
Speaking of jobs.
It is unfortunate for Democrats that as soon as their convention ends, when they will be looking for a "convention bounce" for Obama, is when the August jobs report scheduled to be released on Friday from the Labor Department and the outlook is gloomy with unemployment expected to stay at 8.3 percent, making it the 43rd month in a row that unemployment will be over 8 percent.
Also on tap next week are August car and truck sales due Tuesday; payroll company ADP’s employment report on Thursday, which usually provides a fairly accurate preview for the government’s report later in the week, and data from the manufacturing sector on Tuesday with the release of the Institute of Supply Management Index, which surveys activity among 300 manufacturers.
Via Investors Business Daily, we see other reasons why the majority of Americans agree with Mitt Romney over Obama, on the question of "are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
Which in turn, is the reason why Obama and Democrats are trying hard to convince Americans that Obama's policies have created jobs without mentioning that there are fewer people working now than when he took office.
By most measures the country isn't making slow progress; it's falling further behind. Some examples:Imagine those numbers if Obama is allowed another four years.
• Median incomes: These have fallen 7.3% since Obama took office, which translates into an average of $4,000. Since the so-called recovery started, median incomes continued to fall, dropping $2,544, or 4.8%.
• Long-term unemployed: More than three years into Obama's recovery, 811,000 more still fall into this category than when the recession ended.
• Poverty: The poverty rate climbed to 15.1% in 2010, up from 14.3% in 2009, and economists think it may have hit 15.7% last year, highest since the 1960s.
• Food stamps: There are 11.8 million more people on food stamps since Obama's recovery started.
• Disability: More than 1 million workers have been added to Social Security's disability program in the last three years.
• Gas prices: A gallon of gas cost $1.89 when Obama was sworn in. By June 2009, the price was $2.70. Today, it's $3.84.
• Misery Index: When Obama took office, the combination of unemployment and inflation stood at 7.83. Today it's 9.71.
• Union membership: Even unions are worse off under Obama, with membership dropping half a million between 2009 and 2011.
• Debt: Everyone is far worse off if you just look at the national debt. It has climbed more than $5 trillion under Obama, crossing $16 trillion for the first time on Tuesday and driving the U.S. credit rating down.