Mitch McConnell: The economy is improving because America is psyched for a GOP Congress

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would like some credit for all the recent rosy economic news.

"After so many years of sluggish growth, we're finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama Administration's long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress," McConnell said in a statement Wednesday.

However, the data doesn't quite support McConnell's assertion. The private sector has enjoyed 57 straight months of job growth; the unemployment rate has steadily fallen since 2010, dropping to 5.8 percent to close the year; and though the latest bit of good economic news — that the economy grew by five percent in Q3 last year — came out in December, the growth occurred over the summer, well before it was clear Republicans would claim control of Congress.

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.