
People in the states that narrowly delivered Trump's tainted electoral victory are finding out just how empty his promises were.

In addition to all the help Donald Trump got from Russia, he was propelled to an electoral victory by the narrowest of margins in key "Rust Belt" states, where he promised to bring back jobs that everyone else knew were never coming back.

Now, with his first year in office nearly complete, people in those states are learning the hard truth about Trump's promises.

West Wing Report's Paul Brandus notes that unemployment is on the rise in four out of five Rust Belt states that went for Trump, even as workforce participation has declined:

Unemployment rates typically rise when more people enter the labor force (and are thus counted in monthly data), but in the five Rust Belt states mentioned in previous tweet -IN, MI, OH, WI, PA- the aggregate labor force has SHRUNK by 107,000 in recent months. Folks dropping out — West Wing Reports (@WestWingReport) December 18, 2017


Even in that one "bright spot" of Pennsylvania, job growth has been significantly slower this year than in the comparable period in 2016. Pennsylvania added over 40,000 jobs between February and October during President Barack Obama's last year in office, compared to 23,500 under Trump (source: BLS.gov):

These results may come as a surprise to people who voted for Trump in these states, but the emptiness of Trump's jobs rhetoric has been obvious since before he was inaugurated, when he bragged about saving jobs at Indiana HVAC manufacturer Carrier.

Despite then-Gov. Mike Pence using taxpayer dollars to bribe Carrier with millions in tax benefits, Carrier wound up killing or moving over a thousand jobs. Trump's first year in office has seen the loss or outsourcing of nearly a quarter of a million jobs.

That trend doesn't figure to reverse itself anytime soon, especially if Republicans pass their tax scam. CEOs have already made it clear that they won't use the benefits to hire more workers or raise wages, and even the Trump administration admits that the plan's fictional job benefits are conveniently 10 years away.

Trump has long tried to take credit for Obama's economy, but the facts are catching up to him. Voters in those Rust Belt states will surely follow.