Krugman: Obama 'screwed up' the 'private sector is fine' line

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman calmly criticized President Barack Obama Monday morning for his much discussed "Private sector is doing fine" quote.

“That was an unfortunate line," Krugman said. "The president bungled the line. The truth is, the private sector is doing better than the public sector, which is not well enough.”

The Nobel prized-winning economist explained how the president was technically correct in comparing the private sector numbers to its anemic public sector counterpart, but further added how Obama was clumsy with his words.

“By this point in Obama’s presidency, if we had normal sector job growth, we’d have 800,000 more people: firefighters, schoolteachers, police officers. Instead, we’ve got 600,000 fewer,” Krugman said. "So right there, it’s like 1.4 million jobs that we should have had in the public sector. That’s what he was trying to get at and of course, he screwed up the line."

Obama elaborated on his statement later in the afternoon Friday, saying “it is absolutely clear the economy is not doing fine.”

WATCH: Video from CBS, which was broadcast on June 11, 2012.