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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

2016 Debate: Clinton says Trump proposing “Trumped-up trickle-down” plan; Trump says jobs are fleeing

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shakes hands with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (Julio Cortez / AP)

The first topic tackled by candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in Monday’s presidential debate was jobs.

Clinton said, “The kind of plan Donald has put forth would be trickle-down economics all over again… I call it Trumped-up trickle-down.”

Countered Trump, “Our jobs are fleeing the country, they are going to Mexico, they are going to many other countries … We have to stop these countries from stealing our companies and our jobs.”

Trump cited Clinton’s long history in government service, and said, “Hillary, you’ve been doing this for 30 years, why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?”

Said Clinton, “Well Donald, I know you live in your own reality,” while discussing trade deals.

Here’s what the candidates have said about jobs in the weeks leading up to the debate:

Tepid income growth and shrinking opportunities for blue-collar workers have kept many Americans anxious about jobs and the economy, seven years after the Great Recession ended.

The unemployment rate has fallen to a relatively low 4.9 percent. But many Americans are struggling to keep up with an economy that has been fundamentally transformed since the recession, and is very different from the one their parents experienced.

Trump wants to spur more job creation by reducing regulations and cutting taxes to encourage businesses to expand and hire more.

He also says badly negotiated free trade agreements have cost millions of manufacturing jobs. He promises to bring those jobs back by renegotiating the NAFTA agreement with Canada and Mexico, withdrawing from a proposed Pacific trade pact with 11 other nations, and pushing China to let its currency float freely on international markets.

Clinton has promised to spend $275 billion upgrading roads, tunnels and modern infrastructure such as broadband Internet, to create more construction and engineering jobs. Trump has said in interviews he would spend twice as much.

Said Clinton, “Throughout this campaign, I’ve said that creating good-paying jobs and raising incomes is the defining economic challenge of our time, and that in order to get where I want us to go, we need growth that is strong, fair and long-term.”

Said Trump, “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. I tell you that.”

The Associated Press and The Washington Post contributed to this report.