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President Joe Biden on Friday touted the strong March jobs report along with a milestone in vaccinations, while also saying the country still has a long road ahead as it recovers from the COVID-19 crisis.
“This morning, we learned that our economy created 900,000 jobs in March,” Biden said in a brief speech at the White House. That “means the first two months of our administration have seen more new jobs created in the first two months than any administration in history, but we still have a long way to go to get our economy back on track.”
The March jobs report on Friday showed the U.S. economy regained 916,000 jobs last month, with the unemployment rate falling to 6% from 6.2%. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a gain of 675,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 6%.
See: U.S. gains 916,000 new jobs in March, signaling strengthening economy
When asked by a reporter how much credit he was taking for the latest employment numbers, Biden said he was “giving credit to the American people.”
On COVID vaccinations, the president said the week has brought a record.
“Yesterday, we set an all-time record for Thursday vaccinations, ending a seven-day period that was the first ever where we administered 20 million shots in seven days,” he said. “That’s 20 million shots in a week. No other country has come close to doing that.”
Biden’s remarks came two days after he made his sales pitch for his “American Jobs Plan,” an infrastructure proposal with a price tag of $2.3 trillion. That pitch was delivered in Pittsburgh, with Biden touting the plan as “a once-in-a-generation investment in America.”
The president resumed his effort to sell the plan on Friday.
“Independent analysis shows that if we pass this plan, the economy will create 19 million jobs — good jobs, blue-collar jobs, jobs that pay well,” he said.
Biden defended the tax hikes that he has proposed to fund his infrastructure plan, following a question from a reporter.
“Asking Corporate America just to pay their fair share will not slow the economy at all. It will make the economy function better and will create more energy,” he said.
U.S. stock-index futures
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stayed open long enough Friday for traders to get a look at the March jobs report, and they extended a modest rise after the much stronger-than-expected jump in nonfarm payrolls. Cash trading in equities — and most other markets — was shut due to the Good Friday holiday.
Opinion: Why the drop in the unemployment rate to 6% doesn’t mean very much
