Biden keeps Americans waiting 90 minutes for comments on poor jobs report

U. S. President Biden on Friday brushed off a second month of disappointing jobs growth figures, claiming “monthly totals bounce around” before walking off without taking reporters’ questions.

Biden spoke about 90 minutes later than scheduled and emphasized that the unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 percent in September; the lowest since February 2020, even though economists say that reflects fewer people seeking work.

“Today’s report has the unemployment rate down to 4.8 percent, a significant improvement from when I took office and the sign that our recovery is moving forward”, Biden said.

“The monthly totals bounce around, but if you take a look at the trend, it is solid. On average, 600,000 new jobs created every month since I took office”, Biden added

The new report showed the US added just 194,000 jobs in September, far short of economists’ expectations of about 500,000.

The shortfall compounded a hiring slowdown in August, when the US added 366,000 jobs, according to revised figures released Friday — far below economists’ expectations of 720,000.
Biden said, “The monthly totals bounce around, but if you take a look at the trend, it is solid.”

Biden and Democrats sought to use the disappointing news to promote even more federal stimulus despite Republicans and business owners across the nation arguing that could reduce incentives to work.

“The jobs numbers also remind us that we have important work ahead of us and important investments we need to make,” Biden said. “We risk losing our edge as a nation if we don’t move”, he added. But Republicans blamed Biden for the poor jobs figures.