Biden calls for patience with his economic agenda after weak jobs report fuels criticism
Category: News & Politics
Via: texan1211 • 3 years ago • 31 commentsBy: Jeff Stein, Cleve Wootson (MSN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The White House was put on the defensive on Friday after April's jobs report showed weaker-than-expected hiring, fueling criticisms of the administration's economic agenda and teeing up new battles with Republican lawmakers.
The U.S. added about 266,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate essentially flat at about 6 percent, the report said. Many economists had predicted the pace of vaccine distribution and stimulus programs would help fuel a more rapid recovery. The 266,000 jobs amount to a major slowdown in the pace of hiring after close to 800,000 jobs were added in March.
The Biden administration has been careful to caution the recovery will take time, but still faces difficult questions over the anemic report. In remarks at the White House Friday, the president called the report a "rebuttal" to the idea that some Americans do not want to work "despite what you may have heard this morning."
"More help is needed ... We're still digging out of an economic collapse that cost us 22 million jobs," the president said. "Let's keep our eye on the ball."
"We knew this wouldn't be a sprint. It would be a marathon. Quite frankly, we're moving a lot more rapidly than I thought we would."
Making her first appearance at the White House briefing room on Friday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the report still showed the economy is producing about 500,000 new jobs on average over the last three months.
"I absolutely expect to see continued progress in the economy, probably bumpy," Yellen said.
Economy picked up just 266,000 jobs in April, well below expectations as economy struggles to rebound
Democrats approved a $1.9 trillion stimulus package in March without any Republican votes that included a $300 per week supplemental unemployment benefit. The GOP and many business groups argued the jobs report shows the unemployment benefit is discouraging workers from rejoining the labor market, as reports have emerged throughout the country of firms struggling to bring workers back on the job.
Democratic leadership, meanwhile, seized on the jobs report to argue for the need to approve the White House's spending programs, such as childcare and infrastructure, that they say would accelerate the recovery. The vastly different take-aways from the report show the gulf between the White House and Republicans as they look at ways to try and help the economy going forward.
"When you dig into the report, it confirms everything we've been hearing anecdotally from employers. Employers are frankly competing with a very generous unemployment system," said Neil Bradley, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, in an interview. Bradley said the Chamber's numbers suggest one in four workers receive more from unemployment than they did when they were working. The Chamber called for the end of the $300 per week benefit.
White House grapples with reports of labor shortage, inflation as recovery picks up steam
Democrats and many nonpartisan analysts strongly dispute that interpretation. They have emphasized factors such as a lack of available childcare, seasonal adjustments to unemployment data, and ongoing challenges in reopening schools as the reason jobs growth came in weaker than expected. Other economists have also pointed to the long-term economic scarring inflicted by the pandemic.
In the briefing room, Yellen acknowledged "there is no question we are hearing from businesses they are having difficulty hiring workers." But she said that the data suggests the unemployment bonus is not the key factor.
Yellen said the evidence does not suggest particularly weak job growth in states and job sectors where workers stand to see particular benefits from collecting unemployment benefits relative to going back to their jobs. She pointed to strong growth in leisure and hospitality jobs, where wages are typically low.
"It's clear there are people who are not ready and able to go back into the labor force," Yellen said, citing the lack of childcare and fear of the pandemic. "I don't think the addition to unemployment compensation is really the factor making the difference."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement on Friday that the jobs report highlighted the case for approving childcare and other investments aimed at ensuring women can rejoin the labor market. Employment of women fell in April, while female labor force participation also slipped in a troubling sign.
"As we see continued evidence that women and working parents have been hit hardest in the economy, we must invest in human infrastructure," Pelosi said. "The evidence is clear that the economy demands urgent action."
Republican lawmakers are moving in the other direction. The GOP governors in Montana and South Carolina have moved to cut federal unemployment benefits, arguing they are slowing down the recovery. Other GOP-run states may follow.
"Today's disappointing jobs report is a result of the federal government incentivizing people to stay at home and seek enhanced unemployment benefits rather than finding a job, even as employers are actively looking for more workers," Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in a statement.
Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, said he did not believe the unemployment benefit was the most important factor in the jobs report, while acknowledging it may have an impact. Hatzius pointed instead to the importance of how the federal government accounted for seasonal changes in the data, which may have artificially decreased the topline jobs number.
"You always have to take every data release with a grain of salt, and I think this one you have to take with a rock of salt," Hatzius told CNBC.
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Perhaps if we just increase unemployment benefits and extend them indefinitely, it will help to get people back to work filling all those jobs that employers are searching and unable to fill.
I mean, doesn't it make sense to allow people to make more on unemployment than by working?
How many states have recently changed the rules back to what they were pre-pandemic? IE, to continue to draw unemployment you need to show you are actively looking for work. I don't pay a lot of attention anymore to MSM but I've only seen that Arizona and Florida have changed back to requiring applicants to show they are looking for work.
Montana plans on doing that too along with giving people a $1200.00 incentive to find a job and keep it for 4 weeks.
Why work when Biden's paying them not to?
My nephew said the same thing about 9 months ago.
I told him to get off his lazy ass and off the free gravy train that would eventually run into a wall before other people got the better jobs.
He took my advice and scored a great job.
This current gravy train will eventually hit a wall as well.
Here In AZ we just reinstated the work search requirement. It won't be long before this gravy train ends.
It will sunset in September so anyone still clinging to their government checks only really have 3 months to get a job. If they're smart they'll get back to work now when they don't have to compete with the massive numbers that will be applying for work in a couple months.
Yep That's exactly what I told my nephew. He did and got a decent job that he seems happy at. Good for him.
March numbers where revised down too. All Biden had to do is take Trump's pandemic recovery and run with it.
Funny, If trump would have owned the pandemic instead of brushing it off for as long as he could (till Americans started dropping like flies) likely he would still be president.
as it turned out, trump trumped trump out of office.
GOOD !
That’s the number one reason why I have no respect for Donald Trump, he never owns up to anything. Nothing is ever his responsibility or because he fucked up, it’s always someone else’s fault or everyone is just being mean to him. He also leaps at any opportunity to take credit for anything good that happens, ESPECIALLY when he had nothing to do with it.
Fuck that guy, he is the worst type of person to be around.
Maybe he would be but what does that have to do with Biden’s devastating jobs report?
Nothing, that is all that they have.
"But Trruuummmmpppppp!!!!!" is the battle cry of leftists everywhere.
If they didn't have Trump to bitch about, then they might have to address the issues at the border and their massive spending plans.
No, they would then harken back to Bush Jr and bitch about him instead.
They instantly erase any Democrat President reign in between those times for anything bad that happens.
7,000,000 jobs available and 200,000 people hired.
and inflation is is stirring.
The Biden difference.....
I work with small businesses. We’re open for biz since June. They can’t get people to work although they offer well above minimum wage. Many have had to reduce hours b/c of lack of staff. Now small biz is suffering b/c of perceived poor svc. Fed Govt is destroying small biz.
— Jen O'Brien (@JenOBrien2) May 7, 2021