Biden touts low unemployment in many states

President Biden on Friday highlighted low state unemployment rates across the country as he tried to shine a light on the pandemic recovery and a competitive job market, while voters complain about soaring consumer costs.

Mr. Biden said 17 states are enjoying the lowest unemployment rate they’ve ever had — or a rate equal to the previous record — and 20 states have jobless rates below 3%.

“These aren’t just numbers on a page: these are millions of Americans back at work and able to support themselves and their families with good-paying jobs and enjoy the dignity a job provides,” the president said. “This wasn’t an accident: this was the direct result of my economic plan to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.”

Republicans and others say the problem is that Americans essentially have become poorer due to soaring inflation that’s been blamed on tight supply chains and federal virus-relief money that was doled out to consumers last year.

The Republican National Committee also took credit for the rosy March employment numbers, saying 20 of the 25 top-performing states are led by GOP governors.

“The contrast in leadership is clear. While Joe Biden and the Democrats cause 40-year high inflation, record gas prices, and economic hardship, Republican-led states are creating jobs, keeping schools open, and helping small businesses thrive,” said RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. “Month after month, the data shows Republican-led states lead the country in lowest unemployment and job recovery.”
Inflation hit a new 40-year high of 8.5% in March, and Mr. Biden’s job-approval rating sank to a new low of 38% in CNBC’s All-America Survey released Wednesday.

Mr. Biden acknowledged the high costs in his Friday statement.

“There’s still more work to do to build on this recovery and bring down costs for working families — and my administration is working on that every day — but we can’t lose sight of how far, and how quickly, we’ve come,” he said.