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President Biden said he doesn’t blame himself for high US inflation numbers, he said in remarks Friday, arguing that prices were rising when he took office.
Refusing to answer questions about the Chinese spy plane flying over Montana, Biden told reporters he would only answer questions about the January job numbers, because “they won’t cover it otherwise.”
He responded with an emphatic ‘no’ when asked if he took any responsibility for price increases under his presidency. It was already there when I got here, man.
Do you remember what the economy was like when I got here? Jobs was hemorrhaging. Inflation was rising. We weren’t manufacturing the damn thing here. We were in real financial difficulty.’
Inflation in January 2021 when Biden took office was 1.4 percent. The latest figures for December were 6.5 percent, down from the June 2022 high of 9 percent.
US employers added a solid 517,000 jobs in January, a surprisingly strong gain against the Federal Reserve’s aggressive push to slow growth and rein in inflation with higher interest rates.
US employers added 517,000 jobs in January, a surprisingly strong gain in the face of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive push to slow growth and rein in inflation with higher interest rates.
The unemployment rate fell to 3.4 percent, a new half-century low, due in part to post-COVID spike gains in 2020-22. The pandemic, now in its third year, originally rocked global markets, redrawn the map of the US economy (shifting away from coastal cities) and indelibly reshuffled its workforce.
Friday’s government report added to the picture of a resilient job market, with low unemployment and relatively few, if dramatic, layoffs, mainly in technology and media, even as most economists see a recession looming.
Markets fell after the report, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down around 200 points.
While good for workers, the steady demand for labor from employers has also helped accelerate wage growth and contributed to high inflation.
January’s job growth, which far exceeded December’s 269,000 increase, could raise questions about whether inflationary pressures will ease further in the coming months.
The Fed has raised its benchmark rate eight times since March to try to contain inflation, which hit a four-decade high last year but has slowed since.
Companies are still looking for more workers and are holding on tight to the ones they have. Aside from some high-profile layoffs at big tech companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others, most workers enjoy an unusual level of job security even at a time when many economists predict a recession is looming.
For all of 2022, the economy had added a burning average of 375,000 jobs per month. That was a brisk enough pace to have contributed to the painful inflation Americans have endured, the worst in 40 years.
A tight labor market tends to put upward pressure on wages, which in turn fuels inflation.
Leisure and hospitality experienced the highest growth last month, representing 128,000 new jobs. Professional and business services added 82,000, government 84,000 and health care 58,000.
Wage gains were in line with predictions: they grew about 0.3 percent last month and 4.4 percent over the past year.
Following a Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, Chairman Jerome Powell said the job market remains “extremely tight” and “imbalanced.”
After focusing for years on low unemployment with greater tolerance for price rises, in recent months the Fed has shifted gears to try to target inflation while allowing the job market to cool. Powell warned American consumers that there would be “some pain” in the economy associated with lower prices.