President Joe Biden made small talk on Friday when he gave a speech about an improving job market, mistakenly saying that the unemployment rate had been below 14 percent for more than a year.
In fact, he meant that it had remained below four percent.
The 80-year-old made his gaffe in the Rose Garden, during a speech to highlight how his policies had helped Americans get back to work after pandemic lockdowns.
“When I took office, the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent,” he said, wearing Aviator sunglasses against the September sun.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that it would not fall below four percent until the end of 2025.
“Now the unemployment rate has been below 14% for the past 19 months, the longest stretch in more than 50 years. We have regained all the jobs lost during the pandemic.”
Joe Biden made small talk on Friday as he gave a speech about an improving job market, mistakenly saying the unemployment rate had been below 14 percent for more than a year
The unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent in August, up from 3.5 percent in July and the highest since February 2022, the Labor Department said on Friday.
And the economy has created a million new jobs, he said.
He spoke shortly after the release of the July jobs report. It concluded that the national unemployment rate had risen slightly to 3.8 percent as some of the heat left the labor market.
Biden said this came from a period of historic job growth.
“It’s not that long ago that America lost jobs,” he said. In fact, my predecessor was one of only two presidents in history to enter his presidency and leave with fewer jobs than when he took office.
‘Look where we are now. This morning we learned that the economy created 190,000 jobs last month. All told, we’ve added 13.5 million jobs since I took office.’
That may be true. But President Donald Trump’s tenure began with job growth and ended with a massive economic shutdown, sending people home as COVID-19 gripped the country.
Previously, the monthly jobs report showed an overheated labor market returning to room temperature.
The unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent in August, up from 3.5 percent in July and the highest level since February 2022, the Labor Department said in its report on the employment situation on Friday.
Employers added 187,000 new jobs last month, more than economists had expected, and an increase from July’s 157,000, a figure revised down by 30,000.
Biden delivered his remarks in the White House rose garden, where he wore Aviator sunglasses for protection from the September sun
Employers added 187,000 new jobs last month, more than economists had expected, and an increase from July’s 157,000, a figure that has been revised down by 30,000.
But the rising unemployment rate suggests that job seekers are spending more time between positions as job openings fall from last year’s staggering levels when companies were desperate to hire workers.
“We’re slowly starting to see this slide into a cooler job market,” said Becky Frankiewicz, chief commercial officer at employment agency ManpowerGroup. “Make no mistake: the question cools down. … But it’s not a free fall.’
The employment rate, which had remained flat since March, rose to 62.8 percent, eventually reaching a level in line with pre-pandemic numbers.
The number of ‘new entrants’ among the unemployed, referring to those with no prior work experience, has also increased slightly, suggesting that new job seekers are looking for a job longer.
Signs of a cooling labor market should be welcomed by the Federal Reserve, which has been trying to curb inflation with a series of aggressive rate hikes.
The central bank wants hiring to slow as strong demand for workers tends to fuel rapid wage increases and fuel inflation.
The new data showed average hourly wages rose 0.2 percent in August, slower than the previous month, to $33.82. The average hourly wage rose by 4.3 percent compared to a year ago.