STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BIDEN’S HISTORIC JOBS RECOVERY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2022
PRESS CONTACT: [email protected]

STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT BIDEN’S HISTORIC JOBS RECOVERY

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Building Back Together Executive Director Danielle Melfi released the following statement on January’s jobs report:

“American workers are seeing unprecedented progress under the Biden-Harris Administration as job growth continues to expand, even in the face of pandemic-induced headwinds. Not only did employment rise by nearly half a million jobs, today’s data shows that the past two months of job growth have been significantly stronger than previously reported. Since President Biden took office, more than 6.6 million jobs have been created, and 2021 was the strongest year for job growth on record. Simply put, this has meant more opportunity for more Americans across the country.”

“While there’s more work to be done to keep wages up and bring prices down, it’s thanks to the leadership of President Biden that this kind of unprecedented jobs recovery is possible. The Biden-Harris Administration has focused relentlessly on taking on the pandemic and getting Americans back to work safely – and the data shows it’s working. While Republicans in Congress have done everything they can to impede efforts to fight COVID-19, including spreading misinformation and unanimously opposing the American Rescue Plan, President Biden and his Administration have rolled their sleeves up and powered a historic economic recovery. They’re continuing that commitment to putting working people first by bringing down the cost of living by fixing supply chains, increasing competition in our economy, and lowering the cost of living through the Build Back Better Act.”

But don’t just take it from us:

• CNN: Surprisingly strong jobs report: America adds 467,000 positions in January
  • “The January report hammered home that the jobs recovery is still on track. For President Joe Biden, it makes for a nice report card: The economy added 6.6 million jobs during his first 12 months in office, making it the best first year for a president ever.”
• Fox Business: US job growth soars past expectations with 467,000 added, shaking off omicron surge
  • “Businesses are eager to onboard new employees and are raising wages in order to attract workers as they confront a labor shortage. There are roughly 10.9 million open jobs – a near-record – while the pace of layoffs has moderate. Friday’s payroll report also painted a brighter employment picture in 2021, with major upward revisions to the jobs figure in December (510,000, up from the initially reported 199,000) and November (647,000, up from the initially reported 249,000).”
• Washington Post: U.S. added 467,000 jobs in January despite omicron variant surge
  • “The data sets show a labor market that continues to recover at a strong pace from the pandemic’s worst disruption in March and April of 2020.”
• CNBC: Payrolls show surprisingly powerful gain of 467,000 in January despite omicron surge
  • “Along with the big upside surprise for January, massive revisions sent previous months considerably higher…Those changes brought the 2021 total to 6.665 million, easily the biggest single-year gain in U.S. history.”

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