Statement on Unemployment Insurance Claims From Building Back Together Executive Director Danielle Melfi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 21, 2021
PRESS CONTACT: [email protected]

STATEMENT ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CLAIMS FROM BUILDING BACK TOGETHER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DANIELLE MELFI

“Today’s report underlines what Americans are feeling in communities across the country: the economy is making a comeback, and American workers are getting back on the job. Bringing the economy back from the brink of a pandemic-induced recession isn’t like flipping a switch, but this week’s unemployment insurance claims show that under the leadership of President Biden we have reached a new pre-pandemic low, with claims down to 290,000 for the first time in almost 20 months. The four-week average has also fallen to a new low, dropping more than 60% since the President took office.

Other key economic indicators mirror the strength of our economic recovery: the economy is growing, the unemployment rate is down, wages are up, and job creation has reached a historic pace under President Biden’s leadership with nearly five million jobs created in eight months, a rate of 600,000 new jobs every month on average.

But work remains to be done in order to ensure that the economic recovery reaches every American, and grows our economy from the bottom up and the middle out. That’s why we continue to urge leaders in Congress to deliver on the President’s Build Back Better Agenda and Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal to create even more good-paying jobs, rebuild our nation’s broken infrastructure, lower the cost of essentials from health care to utility bills, while ensuring the wealthiest finally pay their fair share.”

###