Caught in a Lie, Fox News Compelled to 'Clarify' Egregiously Incorrect Unemployment Statistic
Attempting to make President Obama look really bad, Fox & Friends put up a graphic yesterday comparing the "real unemployment rate" in 2009 versus today.
One tiny problem, though: The graphic, which showed the rate nearly doubling since Obama took office, was actually comparing today's "real unemployment rate" with 2009's official unemployment rate.
The latest official unemployment rate is 8.1 — only 0.3 percent higher, which is not nearly enough to make POTUS look like he's hemorrhaging jobs.
The so-called "real" unemployment figure, which includes part-timers looking for full-time work, currently stands at 14.7 percent and has been steadily declining for the past three years.
After Media Matters pointed out this inconvenient fact, the Fox & Friends co-hosts Brian Kilmeade and Gretchen Carlson were forced to acknowledge their error on the air through gritted teeth, naturally making no mention of the impetus for the rare "clarification."
[H/T: Wonkette, Politico, Media Matters, screengrab via Media Matters]