PolitiFact rules Gov. DeSantis' 100% accurate statement on jobs in Florida is only 'half true'

Greg P. | 2:20 PM on October 27, 2021

Gov. Ron DeSantis posted to his various social media accounts the very good news that 84,500 jobs out of the 194,000 total created nationwide in September were in Floria:

But PolitiFact said the 100% accurate statement was only “half true”:

You see, the “numbers are real, but they aren’t really comparable”:

NEW: Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “The nation reported adding 194,000 jobs in September, and Florida accounted for 84,500.” The numbers are real, but they aren't really comparable. https://t.co/PGawkNcfnK pic.twitter.com/yiZMBg2yyJ

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 27, 2021

From PolitiFact:

DeSantis said, “The nation reported adding 194,000 jobs in September and Florida accounted for 84,500.”

The 84,500 number was an impressive showing nationally, ranking second among the states in raw job gains and first as a percentage.

However, state jobs numbers are more in flux than they may seem, because they are subject to revision and bounce around a lot from month to month.

In addition, DeSantis’ numerical comparison contains a mismatch in the underlying data. The 194,000 figure is taken from a national calculation; the more accurate national figure to compare it to is 363,000. Comparing Florida’s jobs gains to the bigger but more comparable number gives Florida a smaller share of the national total.

We rate the statement Half True.