AP FACT CHECK: Trump vastly overstates depth of labor pool
WASHINGTON (AP) — As  he  envisions a manufacturing revival   President Donald Trump  is telling lawmakers the U.S. has a vast  idle labor pool itching to go to work. That’s a mirage.
 His  remarks Tuesday at a meeting with members of Congress about trade:
Out of  Trump’s  pool of 100 million (actually 95.7 million  according to the government)  only about 5.2 million say they want to be working. The vast majority is made up of students aged 16 and over  the elderly and people who want to stay home to raise their children. That information comes from the same government survey used to calculate the unemployment rate.
The economy is already considered to be close to full employment  meaning it’s harder to find workers to fill new jobs — harder still if  Trump  succeeds in curbing immigration.
Few economists blame social programs keeping large numbers of people at home and out of work  as  Trump  appeared to do. Instead  recent economic research suggests opioid addiction is a key reason many Americans can’t get or keep jobs. And past episodes of widespread imprisonment are also a factor: Having a criminal conviction makes it hard for people to find work once they are out of jail.
Trump reasons that trade penalties he’s considering against other countries would spur domestic manufacturing if imports become too expensive. But Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and other lawmakers told him to tread carefully on trade sanctions because the tight U.S. labor market has existing manufacturers struggling to fill jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As  he  envisions [TGT]is telling lawmakers the U.S. has a vast  idle labor pool itching to go to work. That’s a mirage.
 His  remarks Tuesday at a meeting with members of Congress about trade:
Out of  Trump’s  pool of 100 million (actually 95.7 million  according to the government)  only about 5.2 million say they want to be working. The vast majority is made up of students aged 16 and over  the elderly and people who want to stay home to raise their children. That information comes from the same government survey used to calculate the unemployment rate.
The economy is already considered to be close to full employment  meaning it’s harder to find workers to fill new jobs — harder still if  [TGT]succeeds in curbing immigration.
Few economists blame social programs keeping large numbers of people at home and out of work  as  [TGT]appeared to do. Instead  recent economic research suggests opioid addiction is a key reason many Americans can’t get or keep jobs. And past episodes of widespread imprisonment are also a factor: Having a criminal conviction makes it hard for people to find work once they are out of jail.
[TGT] reasons that trade penalties he’s considering against other countries would spur domestic manufacturing if imports become too expensive. But Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and other lawmakers told [TGT] to tread carefully on trade sanctions because the tight U.S. labor market has existing manufacturers struggling to fill jobs.