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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 One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on January 25, 2023 in a tweet: “Two years ago this week, 18 million people were out of work needing unemployment benefits. Today, that number is under 1.6 million, the lowest in decades.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" half-true/6479cbc723379f0ee49c269b0b9790b7.jpg.\\") ![\\"half- true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") * Economy * Jobs * Joe Biden ![\\"President](\\" President Joe Biden speaks at the White House on Jan. 25, 2023. (AP) ![\\"Louis](\\" By Louis Jacobson January 27, 2023 # Joe Biden touts big joblessness drop, but pandemic programs skew key comparison #### If Your Time is short • Biden’s 18 million figure accurately represents the combination of traditional unemployment insurance recipients and those who benefited from temporary programs during the coronavirus pandemic. • The number of unemployment claims today is about 1.6 million, as Biden said. • However, Biden’s two snapshots in time aren’t precisely comparable because the pandemic programs have been phased out. And some people who received benefits in 2021 also didn’t fit the official \"unemployed\" definition. See the sources for this fact-check President Joe Biden recently touted his administration’s progress on getting people off the sidelines — and the jobless rolls — and back into the workforce. \"Two years ago this week, 18 million people were out of work needing unemployment benefits. Today, that number is under 1.6 million, the lowest in decades,\" Biden tweeted Jan. 25. > Two years ago this week, 18 million people were out of work needing > unemployment benefits. Today, that number is under 1.6 million – the lowest > in decades. > > — President Biden (@POTUS) January 25, 2023 The standard measures for unemployment show a smaller number of unemployed Americans two years ago. But the White House provided PolitiFact with a spreadsheet that backed up Biden’s numbers. The difference is that the official statistics did not include a large swath of people who received assistance through temporary, pandemic-era programs. Traditional unemployment statistics show fewer than 18 million Official Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show there were about 10.2 million unemployed Americans nationwide in January 2021. The most recent data available is for December, when about 5.7 million people were unemployed. So, using this measurement, Biden was too high on the unemployment figure for two years ago (he said 18 million), and too low on the figure for \"today\" (he said 1.6 million). Another measurement — continuing unemployment insurance claims — gets Biden closer to today’s number, but moves him even further from what the figure was two years ago. The two statistics aren’t in lockstep for a few reasons, a major one being that some people who are out of work do not qualify for benefits, or choose not to claim them. Data for continuing claims is available weekly. For the week of Jan. 14, 2023, (the latest available), there were almost 1.7 million people filing continuing unemployment claims, close to the number Biden cited in his tweet. But if you look at that same statistic about two years ago — the week of Jan. 23, 2021 — 4.8 million people were receiving this type of unemployment compensation. So, by this measure, part of Biden’s claim was off by nearly a factor of four. So what’s going on? #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 13, 2024 in an Instagram post Kamala Harris voted in favor of passing a law in 2022 to tax tips. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sofia Ahmed • August 15, 2024 The traditional data don’t include temporary pandemic relief programs The White House told PolitiFact that when Biden said there were 18 million people who needed unemployment benefits two years ago, he was also counting people who benefited from two temporary unemployment insurance programs: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. The White House did not cite this evidence when we fact-checked a related statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in June. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance was designed to temporarily expand eligibility for unemployment insurance to self-employed and gig workers during the pandemic. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance program temporarily extended assistance by 13 weeks. For unclear reasons, data from these programs isn’t included in the standard unemployment claims data. According to the White House spreadsheet, these two programs pushed the total number of unemployment benefit recipients up to about 18 million in January 2021, as Biden had tweeted. Since both programs have lapsed, the December 2022 figures do not have to be adjusted upward to account for them. Gary Burtless, an economist at the Brookings Institution, a Washington. D.C., think tank, said the White House’s decision to add the two pandemic-era programs to the tally is reasonable. Based on how the programs were structured, there should not be much if any double-counting, he added. Burtless offered a few caveats. He said that some gig workers — people who work as freelancers or contractors — may have qualified for payments for working fewer hours than normal, rather than being entirely unemployed. People in this category would not have met the official definition of being \"unemployed,\" which is how Biden’s tweet characterized them. The long-standing government definition of \"unemployed\" is to be both \"available for work\" and \"actively searching for work.\" But it’s hard to tell whether state-run unemployment agencies \"were zealously enforcing\" unemployment rules amid the pandemic’s economic disruptions, Burtless said. Finally, Burtless noted that wider unemployment insurance options were available in January 2021 than in December 2022, given that the pandemic programs have phased out. Therefore, he said, a direct comparison like the one Biden made in his tweet is an apples-and-oranges contrast. Still, Biden’s assertion that today’s unemployment claims are the lowest in decades is on target. Although the most recent month isn’t the lowest ever, a string of recent months have all been at historically low levels. Our ruling Biden tweeted, \"Two years ago this week, 18 million people were out of work needing unemployment benefits. Today, that number is under 1.6 million, the lowest in decades.\" The 18 million figure accurately represents the combination of traditional unemployment insurance recipients and those who benefited from temporary programs during the coronavirus pandemic. And Biden’s 1.6 million figure for unemployment claims today is accurate. But Biden’s two snapshots in time aren’t precisely comparable because the pandemic programs have been phased out, effectively offering more lenient opportunities for assistance two years ago than there are today. And some people who received unemployment benefits two years ago, including gig workers who worked fewer hours than they typically would, also didn’t fit the official definition of being unemployed. There’s data supporting Biden’s claim, but his statement leaves out important details and context. We rate it Half True. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Joe Biden, tweet, Jan. 25, 2023 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, unemployment level, accessed Jan. 25, 2023 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, \"continued claims (insured unemployment),\" accessed Jan. 25, 2023 Labor Department, \"Unemployment Insurance Relief During COVID-19 Outbreak,\" accessed Jan. 25, 2023 Investopedia, \"What Was Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)?\" accessed Jan. 25, 2023 JPMorgan Chase, \"Lessons learned from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program during COVID-19,\" accessed Jan. 25, 2023 Email interview with Gary Burtless, senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, Jan. 25, 2023 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Louis Jacobson ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on July 28, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: “Even before the pandemic, America went into a manufacturing recession.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a speech in North Carolina: “Today, America has record energy production and we are energy independent.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 26, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a campaign event in North Carolina: Project 2025 would “end Head Start.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in su discurso de aceptación en la Convención Nacional Demócrata: El expresidente Donald Trump “tiene la intención de promulgar lo que, en efecto, es un impuesto nacional sobre las ventas…que elevaría los precios para las familias de clase media a casi $4,000 al año”. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Marta Campabadal Graus • September 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz.: “There’s been a 43% increase in violent crimes since I left office.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention: Former President Donald Trump \"intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax ... that would raise prices on middle-class families by almost $4,000 a year.\" ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": “Anything that you lose on the tariff from the perspective of the consumer, you gain in higher wages, so you\'re ultimately much better off.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 21, 2024 in a Truth Social post: “The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in un mitin de campaña en Filadelfia: \"El crimen violento aumentó bajo Donald Trump\". ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 6, 2024 in a rally in Philadelphia: “Violent crime was up under Donald Trump.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Donald Trump “intends to cut” Medicare. ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Joe Biden stated on August 2, 2024 in a written statement: \"Since Vice President Harris and I took office … incomes have risen faster than prices.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • August 6, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 30, 2024 in an event in Atlanta: \"Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on July 28, 2024 in an interview on Fox News Sunday: “Even before the pandemic, America went into a manufacturing recession.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 31, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a speech in North Carolina: “Today, America has record energy production and we are energy independent.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • July 26, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 18, 2024 in a campaign event in North Carolina: Project 2025 would “end Head Start.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" ![\\"true\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 22, 2024 in su discurso de aceptación en la Convención Nacional Demócrata: El expresidente Donald Trump “tiene la intención de promulgar lo que, en efecto, es un impuesto nacional sobre las ventas…que elevaría los precios para las familias de clase media a casi $4,000 al año”. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Marta Campabadal Graus • September 5, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz.: “There’s been a 43% increase in violent crimes since I left office.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 4, 2024 ### Joe Biden touts big joblessness drop, but pandemic programs skew key comparison * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" National Republican Senatorial Committee stated on August 28, 2024 in an Instagram ad: Elissa Slotkin “gave your hard-earned tax money to illegal immigrants.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 5, 2024 in a post: Video shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dancing to Beyoncé in a cowboy hat and crop top. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in X posts: A group of 32 armed Venezuelans took over an apartment building in Chicago. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 2, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram: \"Kamala Harris aboga por censurar X en Estados Unidos al estilo de Brasil si es elegida presidenta en noviembre”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on August 28, 2024 in an ad: Project 2025 would defund K-12 schools. ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 4, 2024 in an Instagram post: “The entire family of Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz—they are all supporting Donald Trump.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Josh Stein stated on September 5, 2024 in a press release: “Mark Robinson skips Board of Education vote on teacher bonuses to hold campaign event.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Paul Specht • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 4, 2024 in an Instagram post: An image shows the social media profile of the accused suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 5, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on August 31, 2024 in a post: McDonald’s “said they have no record whatsoever of Kamala Harris ever working at any of their locations.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 5, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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Two years ago this week 18 million people were out of work needing unemployment benefits Today that number is under 16 million the lowest in decades