Biden argues jobs report shows US can tackle inflation

President Biden on Friday argued that the February jobs report shows the U.S. is in a good spot to take on inflation, as Americans grapple with surging food and gas prices.

“While we must tackle head on the challenge families are facing with rising costs, today’s report underscores that the United States is uniquely well positioned to deal with the challenge that inflation has posed across the world as we recover from the pandemic,” the president said in as statement.

The U.S. added 678,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in February, according to the Labor Department. Economists expected the U.S. to add roughly 400,000 jobs last month, far less than the actual haul. 

Biden argued that the jobs report shows that his plan to get back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic crippled the economy is succeeding. 

“Today’s report shows that my plan to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out is working to get America back to work. Since I took office, the economy has created 7.4 million jobs. That’s 7.4 million jobs providing families with dignity and a little more breathing room. We are building a better America,” he said.

He touted that Americans are going back to work in a range of industries, including leisure and hospitality, construction, retail, and manufacturing. 

“In fact, last year has been the best year for manufacturing jobs and trucking jobs since 1994. We are making more and moving goods faster in America,” he said.

The president is teaming up with Siemens USA later on Friday to announce the technology company’s investment of $54 million to expand production in the U.S. and create 300 manufacturing jobs.

Friday’s event at the White House is part of Biden’s “Made in America” initiative. Biden argued earlier this week that a key action to combating rising inflation is making more goods in America. 

He also outlined his plan in the State of the Union address on Tuesday to tackle rising prices, which have taken a serious toll on his approval ratings.

The four-point plan includes making more goods in America and strengthening supply chains, reducing the cost of everyday expenses and reducing the deficit, promoting fair competition to lower prices, helping small businesses and protecting consumers, and eliminating barriers to well-paying jobs.