FACT CHECK: Rick Scott’s Claims About Charlie Crist’s Record On Jobs

CLAIM: Rick Scott says that under Charlie Crist’s leadership, Florida lost over 800,000 jobs and our unemployment went from 3.5% to 11.1%. 

FACT: No governor is responsible for the global economic meltdown, and Rick Scott’s rhetoric insults the intelligence of every Floridian. Florida’s recovery started under Charlie Crist in 2009, and Charlie Crist put the state in a position to create at least a million jobs over the coming years. By working across the aisle and accepting stimulus funding, Charlie helped ensure Floridians started to grow by over 3% and unemployment decreased. But because of Rick Scott, the recovery that started under Gov. Crist has helped the wealthy and the special interests, not the middle class.

CHECK THE FACTS:

PolitiFact: “Scott has attacked Crist using those numbers, but it’s not accurate to blame Crist for the high unemployment of 2010, because it was the result of the national recession.” 5/31/14

[Tampa Bay Times PolitiFact, 3/11/14]

[Palm Beach Post, 9/17/14]