Obama on jobs

The president, for his part, will likely take credit for creating an impressive "4.5 million jobs." He's playing a bit fast and loose to get that number, however: that figure is not the net increase in jobs since the beginning of his presidency.

To declare the 4.5 million figure, Obama is only counting private-sector job growth since January 2010, which was the low point for the private sector. Factor in the job cuts to the public sector since that time and the total jobs tally since 2010 becomes 4 million.

But since he isn't counting from 2009, when millions of jobs were also lost, the figure is misleading: Obama has more or less broken even on job creation since taking office.

Read more:

• A Closer Look at Jobs Claims (NYT)

• Last Night's Democratic Keynote Speaker Told A Whopper About Obama Creating 4.5 Million New Jobs