With the State of the Union Address recently over, a lot's being mulled over by political commentators. Here are a few of the more interesting talking points, scored by PolitiFact:
Obama: more factories opening today than two decades ago - "Mostly True"
The latest figures line up with Obama’s claim. The number of factories steadily decreased from 1998 to 2013. In the first two quarters of 2014, things started to pick up, though they are still nowhere near the 1998 peak. We should note that economists are far from certain that this is a significant trend, or if it will continue.
Barack Obama claims deficit has decreased by two-thirds since taking office - "Mosty True"
Obama said since taking office the country has seen "our deficits cut by two-thirds."
His claim is accurate if you use 2009, his first year in office with an historically high deficit, as a starting point.
The claim ignores a stark reality about the deficits, however. The country’s spending is not expected to continue its downward route, according to federal forecasters, for factors that include increased interest payments on the debt and the lack of substantial policy changes for the country’s biggest programs, like Social Security and Medicare.
Barack Obama says U.S. auto industry has 'created about 500,000 new jobs' in past 5 years - "True"
Obama said that over the past five years, the American automobile industry has "created about 500,000 new jobs."
During the period in question, the actual number of job gains in the car industry is strikingly close to what Obama said -- 502,900 -- and we don’t find any significant omissions in his claim.
Barack Obama says U.S. economy is creating jobs at fastest pace since 1999 - "True"
Obama said the economy is "creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999." The current jobs recovery isn’t perfect, but Obama is correct that it’s the fastest since 1999.