Media coverage sucks, so that doesn't help. But anyone who denies that Clinton had a strong economic/jobs message was simply not willing to hear it or was not paying attention.
No politician with an ounce of dignity is going to flat out lie about bringing jobs back (without also mentioning that the US will drop labor standards, do away with the minimum wage, drastically cut corporate taxes and get rid of any sort of public assistance that would enable people to avoid taking a job that pays 5 cents a day).
Sure, Dems could lie. And they could dumb down their message. But the fact is Clinton was victimized by decades of extreme hate (much of it totally irrational and rooted in sexism and misogyny), "Facts Backfire," tens of million of Americans (who, to their credit, always vote) subscribe to patently false beliefs (some of the most absurd things imaginable), the Shelby County v. Holder decision allowed for massive voter suppression, the FBI went rogue, and throughout US history there has been a white backlash when racial progress has been made (plus, white folks know they'll be in the minority before too long).
And it bears repeating that the median income of Clinton supporters is substantially lower than the median income of Trump supporters. Those most impacted by the recession went for Clinton. One of the big problems with the "working class whites" narrative is that it implies working class POC must not care about economics/jobs, which is absurd.