While continuing high rates of inflation is a valid concern for the long term prospects of local, regional, and the national economies, job growth, for now, is still maintaining strength.
In May, the nation reported 390,000 jobs were created across the country. That is slightly down from the 436,000 jobs created in April.
The Unemployment rate remained at 3.6 percent, continuing to constitute full employment.
In remarks to the White House Press Corp, President Biden, hours after delivering an address on the need to enact bipartisan gun control legislation, touted the May Jobs Report as evidence his economic policies were working and acknowledged the struggles Americans were going through as prices at the gas pump and supermarkets continue to rise, and proposed solutions to make the lives of the people easier.
In his remarks, the President acknowledged that Americans were having a hard time with rising prices, saying:
"I know with today's good news, a lot of Americans remain anxious and I understand the feeling. I grew up in a family about 100 miles from here that if the price of gas went up, you felt it...There's no denying that high prices, particularly of gas and food are a real problem for people."
Mr. Biden then shifted to a voice of optimism, stating:
"But there's every reason for the American People to feel confident that we'll meet these challenges. Because of the enormous progress we've made on the economy, we can tackle inflation from a position of strength."
He then recounted the progress the economy has made since the Biden/Harris Administration took office during the height of the Coronavirus, noting that with the vaccination and American Rescue Plans, "America has achieved the most robust recovery in modern history...The job market is the strongest it has been since just after World War Two...8.7 million new jobs. An all time record...Working age people have come back into the workforce at a faster rate in this recovery at any point in the last 40 years...American Manufacturing is booming. 600,000 new manufacturing jobs since I took office." Later, Mr. Biden asserted that "America is in a stronger economic position today than just about every other country in the world" and the United States economy can possibly grow faster than China's for the first time since 1976.
The President also relayed that the American People, according to a recent Federal Reserve survey, felt more confident with having less personal debt, more savings, and a record number of small business start ups.
Mr. Biden also reported that the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, thanks in part to Biden/Harris era programs and the strong economic recovery, will be able to pay out full benefits for a longer period than previously anticipated.
Saying the foundation the Biden/Harris Administration has built is strong, he said it was time "to build on that moment and build a future of steady growth so we can bring down inflation without sacrificing all the historic gains we've made."
The President cautioned that the remarkable job growth will start to moderate but increases will be steady with worker wages rising, inflation falling, and deficits "shrinking."
Pivoting to inflation, Mr. Biden maintained that bringing prices down was "his top economic priority."
He then focused on his ideas for bringing costs down on everyday goods and bringing down the deficit.
Blaming Putin's invasion of Ukraine for rising gas and food prices, the President acknowledged that the American People did not care why prices were rising but "Joe, what are you going to do to bring them down." Saying "As your President, I remain committed to doing everything in my power to blunt the impact on American Families," Mr. Biden reminded the audience that he taken the steps of:
- Opening up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
- Allowing homegrown biofuel gasoline this summer.
- Working with allies to get Ukrainian grain out onto the world market.
Mr. Biden then called on Congress to pass several measures that would reduce costs for the American People and give families "breathing room" like his Clean Energy investment proposals, lowering prescription drug costs like insulin, reducing mortgage costs, making high speed internet more affordable, and improving the global supply chain.
Pity he did not say anything about Universal Pre K.
The President stated that none of his proposals would raise the deficit and taxes would not rise on any person making more than $400,000 a year.
He then reminded the American People that he was not the only governing game in town and that Republicans were being obstructionists and counterproductive in Congress, relaying:
"The point is this. I'm doing everything I can on my own to help working families during this stretch of higher prices. I'm going to continue to do that. But Congress needs to act as well. We can do so much more if we can come together to lower costs for American Families but my Congressional Republican friends led by Rick Scott have a different approach...He wants to raise taxes on working families by an average of $1,500. He wants to put Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid on the chopping block every five years...I disagree with that. What in God's name are they doing?
Mr. Biden also reminded the audience that in terms of deficit reduction (despite more Republican big lie talking points,) he, like other recent Democratic Administrations (Clinton and Obama) has delivered in reducing annual budget shortfalls including a projected $1.7 trillion this year and paying down the national debt this quarter. Both of these events never happened during the Trump/Pence Administration.
The President repeated his plan for future deficit reductions with tax reform that would make the ultra wealthy and major corporations pay their fair share. He also reminded the people that the Republican economic philosophy of trickle down economics "doesn't work."
He concluded by stating:
"My plans have produced the strongest, fastest, most widespread economic recovery America has ever experienced with record jobs, new record small businesses, wages rising. It's the foundation for an economy that works for working families. Because of that foundation, we're better positioned than any country in the world to overcome global inflation that we're seeing and reach a new chapter of stable and steady growth. So let's come together and focus on what matters. Let's build on the extraordinary progress we've made. Let's continue to build this economy from the bottom up and middle out. When that happens, everyone does well, including the very wealthy..."
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