WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden touted America’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic on Friday after a better than expected jobs report saw the United States add 850,000 new jobs in the month of June.
“Our economy is on the move, and we have COVID on the run,” Biden said during remarks from the White House. “We’re aiming for full employment – and that means keeping our pace of job growth. But this progress is a testament to our commitment to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.”
The report saw the U.S. add more jobs in the month than the 700,000 predicted by economists. However, the unemployment rate was up at 5.9%, missing the 5.7% expectation.
The President gave credit to his administration and the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan for boosting the market’s recovery. The bill was passed back in March without a single Republican supporting the package.
“None of this happened by accident, it’s a direct result of the American Rescue Plan,” Biden said. “People questioned whether or not we should do that, even though we didn’t have bipartisan support. Well, it worked.”
“This is historic progress. Pulling our economy out of the worst crisis in 100 years. Driven in part by our dramatic progress in vaccinating our nation and beating back the pandemic,” Biden added.
The President used the opportunity to argue for the passing of $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that he and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on last week. Democrats are looking to pass legislation that would include a social safety net expansion.
Despite the good report, Biden said there is more work to do” to ensure the economy reaches full employment.
“We have a chance to seize this economic momentum of the first months of my administration — not just to build back, but as I’ve been saying, build back better. … This much is already clear: We’re on track, and we’re on the right track. Our plan is working. And we’re not going to let up now,” he said.
The news comes as Democrats are working to pass legislation using the budget reconciliation procedure that would allow them to pass it with support from only Democratic lawmakers.
