Fox News / Screengrab
Fox News seemed unfazed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) estimate that the economy lost 33,000 jobs last month -- a figure far short of most economist’s expectations. The network’s rosy interpretation of an aberrant monthly jobs report stands in stark contrast to years of nitpicking and misrepresentation during the Obama administration, and it reveals once again that Fox is working to prop up President Donald Trump.
According to the BLS’ monthly employment report for September 2017, the economy lost 33,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent. Job creation for the months of July and August was revised down by a combined 38,000, meaning that the average pace of job creation over the past three months fell to just 91,000. According to a BLS statement, part of the job loss in September was the result of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which may have disrupted data collection and likely prevented some businesses from hiring. The storms devastated parts of Texas and Florida and are expected to exert downward pressure, at least temporarily, on the overall economy.
The impact of the hurricanes was no surprise, but economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal still predicted roughly 80,000 new jobs to be created last month. As Business Insider reported, if the economy did indeed lose jobs in September (final revisions are due in December), it would mark the first negative month of job creation since 2010. As New York Times reporter Ben Casselman noted, the economy had created jobs for 83 consecutive months:
The U.S. added jobs for a record 83 straight months. That streak ended in September.*
* Pending revisions. pic.twitter.com/DUwOAvNVrT— Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) October 6, 2017
During the Obama administration, the team at Fox News would have pounced on a jobs report with such a stark negative jobs number. Indeed, when the jobs figure from December 2016 merely came in under expectations, Fox claimed it was proof that the Obama economy was sputtering and “sick.” Fox completely reversed the tone of its economic coverage after Trump’s inauguration, and that reversal was on full display this morning.
Fox & Friends covered the report for mere seconds before moving on to other news, but co-host Abby Huntsman worked in mentions of the hurricanes and lower unemployment rate while glossing over job losses:
On Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, the host and guests spent several minutes hyping record stock market valuations and stressing that the September jobs number should be ignored due to damage from the hurricanes. After correspondent Adam Shapiro unveiled the report, guest Joanie Courtney pivoted away from the job losses to highlight “positive news in this report,” including wage growth and a slight uptick in labor force participation. The rest of the panel then spent the next several minutes explaining why stock investors should not be worried by a single monthly hiccup:
On Fox Business’ Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney opened his show by bragging that what he calls “the Trump rally” on the stock market has created trillions of dollars of wealth since Election Day. Varney dismissed the job losses in September before claiming that the backbone of the economy was “humming along.” In a later segment, Varney returned to bragging about the supposed “Trump rally” -- he has promoted this fiction for months, crediting Trump for positive economic trends inherited from the prior administration -- with author and investment analyst Hunter Lewis. To Varney’s surprise, Lewis immediately threw cold water on boasts about the economy, warning that he believes the stock market is “in a bubble” and may actually be headed for “a nasty correction”: