Fox Tries To Undermine Jobs Report While Presenting Same Report's Numbers As “Fox Facts”

Written by Melody Johnson

Published

Fox News questioned the legitimacy of the September jobs report while simultaneously airing numbers from the report that could be perceived as bad news for President Obama and labeling them “Fox Facts.”

Following the release of the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Fox and other media outlets have attacked the report as being manipulated to help the Obama administration politically. Experts say that this is an unfounded conspiracy theory.

Before an interview with Fox host Chris Wallace, America's Newsroom co-host Martha MacCallum questioned the September jobs report, which showed a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent. MacCallum said that there is “new fallout coming in over this latest jobs report. Many conservatives now speaking out, questioning the numbers in this report.”

While Fox explored the supposed questions over the BLS report, on-screen graphics presented some of the report's findings as “Fox Facts.” Here are those findings, and the BLS language they are derived from.

4.8 Million Americans Have Been Out Of Work For 27 Weeks Or More

1

From the BLS report (emphasis in original):

The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks declined by 302,000 over the month to 2.5 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 4.8 million and accounted for 40.1 percent of the unemployed.

8.6 Million Americans Are Working Part-Time Because They Cannot Find Full-Time Jobs

2

From the BLS report (emphasis in original):

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) rose from 8.0 million in August to 8.6 million in September. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Over 800,000 In U.S. Have Stopped Looking For Work Due To A Weak Economy

4

This is true, but Fox did not point out that this number has decreased significantly from this time last year.

From the BLS report (emphasis in original):

Among the marginally attached, there were 802,000 discouraged workers in September, a decline of 235,000 from a year earlier.

Fox would have viewers both question and trust the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the same segment.