(MSNBC)  Steve Benen, May 12, 2016 Has unemployment gone up or down in the Obama era? There’s an objective truth, which Republican voters choose not to believe.

The latest national survey from Public Policy Polling included quite a few interesting tidbits, but there was one area in particular that stood out for me.

There continues to be a lot of misinformation about what has happened during Obama’s time in office. 43% of voters think the unemployment rate has increased while Obama has been President, to only 49% who correctly recognize that it has decreased. And 32% of voters think the stock market has gone down during the Obama administration, to only 52% who correctly recognize that it has gone up.

In both cases Democrats and independents are correct in their understanding of how things have changed since Obama became President, but Republicans claim by a 64/27 spread that unemployment has increased and by a 57/27 spread that the stock market has gone down.

“It’s a fact that unemployment has gone down and the stock market has gone up during the Obama administration,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “But GOP voters treat these things more as issues of opinion than issues of fact.”

Source: The persistence of the reality gap matters | MSNBC