WASHINGTON — The lowest unemployment rate in a half-century and millions of new jobs have Americans cheering Donald Trump’s economic record, but U.S Sen. Cory Booker says the president shouldn’t take a victory lap just yet.

“Ask people if the numbers that Donald Trump touts are really making a difference in their lives,” Booker, one of more than 20 candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They’ll tell you, ‘I have to work two jobs just to try to keep myself in housing.’ Americans are struggling.”

In a recent CNN poll, 56% of Americans approved of the way Trump was handling the economy, with 41% opposed. The government said Friday that 263,000 jobs were created last month, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6%.

Booker, D-N.J., said Trump was taking credit for an economic recovery that began under his predecessor, President Barack Obama. He said Trump pushed through a tax law that gave most of its benefits to the wealthiest Americans.

“Who is this economy going to work for?” Booker said. “We have to make sure this is a shared recovery because right now, it definitely is not."

Booker said the presidential campaign should not be about fighting Trump but about offering an alternative vision for voters. He said that he became mayor of Newark by giving residents a reason to vote for him, not just voting against his opponent.

“I made it about the people,” he said. “We energized an entirely new electorate to come out and we won.”

He said that the civil rights demonstrators in Alabama didn’t use the same tactics as the Birmingham public safety commissioner, Bull Connor, who fought integration.

“I know Donald Trump wants us to try to fight him on his turf and his terms,” Booker said. “What’s needed right now is not more of that. We didn’t beat Bull Connor by bringing in bigger dogs and more powerful fire hoses. We won that by expanding the moral imagination of this whole country about who we are and who we must be going forward.”

Booker is trailing in opinion polls and in fundraising, though he has met the criteria in both categories to qualify for next month’s presidential debate in Miami. The latest Real Clear Politics average of opinion polls placed him seventh with 2.5%.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.