President Joe Biden welcomed a better-than-expected February jobs report one day after his last State of the Union address before November’s general election.
Biden used his State of the Union address to describe the economy, under his leadership, as “the greatest comeback story never told.” That was a tacit acknowledgment that although economic indicators have been improving, consumer sentiment, at least captured by political polling, has not.
“The great American comeback continues,” Biden wrote on Friday. “Last night, I put forward my vision for America’s future: one where we build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, where we invest in all Americans, and where the middle class has a fair shot and we leave no one behind.”
The economy outperformed expectations in February and added 275,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, though December and January numbers were revised down by 167,000 fewer jobs. The unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percentage point to 3.9%, low by historical standards.
“Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink,” Biden wrote. “Now, our economy is the envy of the world. We added 275,000 jobs last month — nearly 15 million since I took office. Unemployment has been under 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. Wages keep going up. Inflation keeps coming down. And I’m taking action to continue lowering costs by taking on Big Pharma, getting rid of hidden junk fees, and making housing more affordable.”
“Across the country, the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” he added. “The days of trickle-down are over.”
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Former President Donald Trump, who criticized Biden’s State of the Union in real time on social media, and the Republican National Committee scrutinized Biden’s economic policies, which have become known as “Bidenomics.”
“When Biden took office: Inflation was at 1.4 percent, the nationwide average for regular gas was $2.39/gallon, and the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was around 2.7 percent,” RNC spokesman Jake Schneider wrote. “Today: Overall prices are up nearly 18 percent, average gas prices are more than 40 percent higher, and mortgage rates remain near record highs.”