Trump touts improving economy since taking office, points to new numbers

In this Nov. 2, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on tax policy with Republican lawmakers in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, right. Terrorism, taxes and Russia tribulations provided fertile ground for President Donald Trump and others to sow confusion over the past week. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Trump touted new record-low unemployment numbers and stock market gains on Saturday - once again making his case that the U.S. economy is flourishing under his administration despite the Russia investigations and other problems that have many Americans disproving of his job performance.

“Unemployment is down to 4.1%, lowest in 17 years. 1.5 million new jobs created since I took office. Highest stock Market ever, up $5.4 trill,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning from Hawaii, the first stop on his 12-day Asia tour.

The Labor Department announced Friday that the U.S. economy had added 261,000 jobs in October and that the unemployment rate indeed dropped to 4.1 percent -- the lowest in nearly 17 years but not as low as economists had forecast.

Also Friday, gains in technology stocks helped the Standard & Poor's 500 set a new record.

Trump’s tweet Saturday about the U.S. stock market being “up” $5.4 trillion was not the first time he’s made such an argument.

Just several days ago, Trump said: “Our stock market just hit another record high. It's the highest it's ever been in history by far. We've created about $5.4 trillion only in stock market value -- $5.4 trillion. And we're very happy about it.”

Gallup has Trump’s daily approval rating at 39 percent and his disapproval rating at 57 percent.

The number are slight improvements over past weeks, as Justice Department special counsel Bob Mueller continues to investigate whether Trump associates colluded with Russia to help him win the 2016 White House race.

Trump on Saturday also apparently asked Saudi Arabia on Twitter to sell shares of Aramco, its national oil company, on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Would very much appreciate Saudi Arabia doing their IPO of Aramco with the New York Stock Exchange," Trump tweeted. "Important to the United States!"

Aramco is considered the largest energy company in the world. So even a fraction of its stock shares would have a major positive impact on the U.S. stock market.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.