Truth-O-Meter rules on claims about growth in U.S. debt, women’s unemployment

Republicans did well on the Truth-O-Meter this weekend with claims about the growth pace of the nation’s debt to how women are faring jobs-wise since the recession.

In case you missed it, the Truth-O-Meter ruled Sunday on a claim by U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) about how much debt the nation is incurring compared with how the economy is growing. Monday’s claim by Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Monmouth) was about whether women or men are having an easier time of gaining employment in the three years since the recession ended.

Frelinghuysen claim

Frelinghuysen claimed in a May 25 e-mail newsletter that the country has borrowed $2.52 for every $1 of economic growth during the first quarter of 2012. PolitiFact New Jersey found that gross debt grew by more than $359.1 billion for the first three months of the year, compared with the GDP, which increased by $142.4 billion. Broken down, that’s $2.52 added to the debt for each $1 added to the nation’s economy.

Casagrande claim

Although the recession officially ended in June 2009, Casagrande (R-Monmouth) said women are having a more difficult time than men returning to the workforce and noted that unemployment among women has increased since President Barack Obama’s been in office. The Truth-O-Meter found that men actually had higher unemployment than women during the recession, but labor fields typically dominated by women are having a much slower recovery than male-dominated industries.

Read the complete rulings of both stories at PolitiFactNJ.com and then join the conversation about them, and other rulings, at NJ.com.