Stand up for the facts!

Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy.
We need your help.

More Info

I would like to contribute

Truth-O-Meter rules on claims about growth in U.S. debt, women's unemployment

By Caryn Shinske June 5, 2012

Republicans did well on the Truth-O-Meter this weekend with claims about the growth pace of the nation’s debt to how women are faring jobs-wise since the recession.

In case you missed it, the Truth-O-Meter ruled Sunday on a claim by U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) about how much debt the nation is incurring compared with how the economy is growing. Monday’s claim by Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Monmouth) was about whether women or men are having an easier time of gaining employment in the three years since the recession ended.

Frelinghuysen claim

Frelinghuysen claimed in a May 25 e-mail newsletter that the country has borrowed $2.52 for every $1 of economic growth during the first quarter of 2012. PolitiFact New Jersey found that gross debt grew by more than $359.1 billion for the first three months of the year, compared with the GDP, which increased by $142.4 billion. Broken down, that’s $2.52 added to the debt for each $1 added to the nation’s economy.

Casagrande claim

Sign up for PolitiFact texts

Although the recession officially ended in June 2009, Casagrande (R-Monmouth) said women are having a more difficult time than men returning to the workforce and noted that unemployment among women has increased since President Barack Obama’s been in office. The Truth-O-Meter found that men actually had higher unemployment than women during the recession, but labor fields typically dominated by women are having a much slower recovery than male-dominated industries.

Read the complete rulings of both stories at PolitiFactNJ.com and then join the conversation about them, and other rulings, at NJ.com.

Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Caryn Shinske

Truth-O-Meter rules on claims about growth in U.S. debt, women's unemployment