Trump is wrong that G.D.P. growth has not been higher than the unemployment rate in the past century. In fact, it has happened in 185 months since 1948, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Most recently, in the first quarter of 2006, the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 5.4 percent, while the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in January, 4.8 percent in February and 4.7 percent in March.
The biggest positive gap between the quarterly gross domestic product growth rate and unemployment occurred in September 1950. At that time, the American jobless rate was 4.4 percent, and the gross domestic product increased at 16.5 percent in the third quarter — a difference of 12 points.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic
So, he was pretty close then.
