Letter: Moderator twists facts during Fox debate

But I believe the questions contained statistics that deliberately twist the facts with the intent to continue the conspiracy theory that the actual unemployment rate of 5 percent is somehow a lie.

Fox Business moderator Maria Bartiromo stated that "almost 40 percent of Americans are without a job and are not looking." She didn't give a source, but that figure comes for the labor participation rate, tabulated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It's from a survey and simply measures all people over the age of 16 who are working. The persons who count as "not working" include kids in high school, college students, stay-at-home parents and any retiree of any age. The vast majority of my neighbors here in Sun City are fully retired and therefore not included. And most are not looking for a job.

The rate has been between 62.4 percent and 66.1 percent since 2000. The lowest rate of 58.3 percent was in 1958 when the economy was booming and a single wage earner supported an entire family.

When your favorite candidate repeats this statistic, you may wonder what other manipulated half-truths they are telling you.

Lynn L. Tyson

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 10:55 PM with the headline "Letter: Moderator twists facts during Fox debate."