Total nonfarm employment grew by more than 3.2 million during the president’s first 17 months in office, according to the most recent figures available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That’s steady, solid growth to be sure, continuing an unbroken chain of monthly gains in total employment that started in October 2010.

But the average monthly gain under Trump is 189,000 jobs, which is nearly 13 percent below the monthly average of 217,000 during Obama’s second term.

Trump will have to pick up the pace if he is to fulfill his campaign boast that he will be “the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” At the current monthly rate, a total of just over 18 million jobs would be added over eight years. That’s better than the 11.6 million added under Obama and the 16.1 million added under Ronald Reagan, but well below the 22.9 million added when Bill Clinton was president, and the population was smaller.