President Biden took a victory lap Friday on a strong jobs report for January, saying his administration made history by creating 6.6 million jobs in his first year.
“Our country is taking everything that COVID has thrown at us, and we’ve come back stronger,” Mr. Biden said at the White House. “America is back to work.”
Employers added 467,000 jobs in January, higher than expected during a surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19. The Labor Department also revised up job growth for November and December by about 700,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate for January ticked up slightly to 4%.
“History’s been made here. It’s never happened before,” Mr. Biden said of the job growth in his first year as president.
He also cited a “dramatic decline” in COVID-19 cases in the past three weeks. He said schools and workplaces have the “tools” to stay open.
SEE ALSO: U.S. employers shrug off omicron, add 467,000 jobs in January
The president acknowledged that inflation, which hit a 40-year high of 7% in December, is still too high. He insisted that Congress could help lower prices by passing portions of his failed $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, including more aid for child care and prescription drugs.
“Average people are getting clobbered by the price of everything today,” Mr. Biden said, asserting that his stalled proposals would “give them a little breathing room.”
Republicans said Mr. Biden still hasn’t delivered on the number of jobs that he promised.
“Joe Biden’s economy is leaving Americans behind, and the January jobs report shows that there are hundreds of thousands less jobs than he promised,” said Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel. “Hardworking Americans are facing historically high inflation, decreasing real wages, and spiking gas prices, but Joe Biden doesn’t care. Republican governors and legislatures will continue to reject Biden’s disastrous agenda and support American small businesses, families, and workers.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.