On Wednesday, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post all ran above-the-fold, page-1 headlines touting recent gains in income for the typical American household. President Obama appeared at a political rally in Philadelphia and, after citing these gains and the existence of lower gas prices, proclaimed, “Thanks, Obama.” (He really said this.) And, indeed, the top-line claim that real median household income rose 5.2 percent from one year to the next—”the first [statistically significant] annual increase in median household income” of the Obama presidency—is true. But the overall impression given by the press corps—that happy days are here again—is false.

First, the announced income gains weren’t from 2015 to 2016. They were from 2014 to 2015. Thus far in 2016 (for which income figures aren’t yet available), the real gross domestic product has grown at an anemic annual rate of 0.8 percent in the first quarter and 1.1 percent in the second quarter—according to the Obama administration’s own Bureau of Economic Analysis. (That won’t help boost Obama’s last-place standing among postwar presidents in terms of economic growth on their watch.)