Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen touted the “historic recovery” of the economy under President Biden during her appearance before Congress on Tuesday.
“Over the past three years, the Biden Administration has driven a historic recovery,” Yellen said in opening remarks before the House Financial Services Committee as part of the annual report of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
“GDP growth is strong and inflation has declined significantly,” she continued. “We have also achieved a healthy labor market.”
Yellen noted that the labor force participation rate is up, while the unemployment rate has remained below 4 percent, “continuing the longest streak in 50 years.” Real wages and household median wealth have also increased, she added.
She also emphasized the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s focus on addressing risks from the banking sector and nonbank financial institutions, climate-related events, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital assets.
The Council, which was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, is made up of the nation’s major financial regulators and is chaired by the Treasury secretary.
As Biden turns his focus on November’s general election and a likely rematch against former President Trump, he and other members of the administration have sought to highlight their economic accomplishments and shift Americans’ largely negative views on the economy.
While inflation skyrocketed in the first half of Biden’s term, it has since fallen significantly, with consumer prices up just 3.4 percent year-over-year in December. The economy has also remained surprisingly resilient in the face of the Federal Reserve’s repeated interest rate hikes, defying widespread expectations that it would dip into a recession.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who serves as the chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee, blasted Yellen’s description of the economy at Tuesday’s hearing.
“Asking Americans to feel good about Bidenomics is like asking them to smile during a root canal,” Barr said, using the the Biden administration’s economic slogan. “The discomfort is just too hard to ignore.”
He pointed to the lingering high prices from the recent spike in inflation. Food and gas prices are both up about 25 percent from February 2020, and rent is up 21 percent. Over the same period, wages increased 20 percent.
“The administration may wish to tout inflation numbers coming down, but madam secretary, you’re an economist, and as you know, inflation, which is the rate of increase in prices, should not be confused with the overall level of prices,” Barr added.
A recent CNN poll found that just 35 percent of Americans said things with the economy are going well, and only 26 percent said the economy has started to recover. Another 26 percent said economic conditions have stabilized and are not getting worse.
Biden also trailed Trump by more than 20 points on the question of which candidate would better handle the economy in a recent national NBC News poll.
Updated at 12:29 p.m.