"President Obama set a goal to create 1 million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016 and is working to double American exports over the next five years by promoting U.S. goods and removing trade barriers, expanding access to credit, and promoting strong growth."
After a presidential election decided by Rust Belt voters' Republican shift, it's an opportune time to evaluate President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election promise to "create 1 million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016."
(We're also tracking his promise to "double American exports over the next five years.")
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that between the time Obama made that promise, amid the 2012 campaign, and October 2016, the number of manufacturing jobs rose by 297,000. That's well below 1 million.
And you can't get to 1 million even if you use time frames that are generous to Obama.
If you start from the beginning of Obama's term -- which started in a severe economic downturn -- the number of manufacturing jobs is actually down by about 303,000.
And if you start counting net gains in manufacturing jobs from their lowest point in early 2010, the gains are strongest, but it's only an increase of 805,000 -- still short of 1 million.
This rates Promise Broken.
Editor's note: We updated this story Dec. 8, 2016, to remove references to Obama's pledge to double exports by 2016. That information was re-published in this promise update. The rating for his pledge to add 1 million manufacturing jobs remains Promise Broken.