One of the posts is titled “FACT: Virginia Has Fallen Behind Competitors Under McAuliffe Policies”. The caption reads: “McAuliffe’s pitiful record is nothing to brag about. “

The first claim on this document is that Virginia suffered a net loss of 2,965 jobs between December 2013 – the month before McAuliffe took office – and December 2020.

Here’s the loophole in that logic: McAuliffe stepped down in January 2018, almost three years before the end of this data set. It appears the Youngkin campaign has widened the time frame in an effort to blame McAuliffe for unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Would it be more dishonest?

Here are the facts, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

In January 2014 – the month McAuliffe was sworn in as governor – there were 4,028,612 workers employed in Virginia. In December 2018 – McAuliffe’s last full month in office – employment in Virginia stood at 4,228,692 workers. McAuliffe’s record shows a net gain of 228,080 jobs in Virginia, not a drop of nearly 3,000.

In January 2014, the number of unemployed in Virginia stood at 227,687. By December 2018, the number had plunged to 126,431. In other words, the number of unemployed workers fell by 101,256 during the tenure of McAuliffe.

In January 2014, the unemployment rate in Virginia was 5.3%. In December 2018, the unemployment rate was 2.9%.