President Joe Biden on Friday tried to put a positive spin on the worst jobs report of his presidency, urging Americans to look at the bigger picture and pushing his infrastructure bill and his trillion-dollar package of social programs.
'If you take a look at the trend itself, on average 600,000 new jobs created every month since I took office,' Biden said. 'In total, job creation in the first eight months of my administration is nearly 5 million jobs.'
'Now that's progress,' he added.
Just 194,000 jobs were added to the payroll in September, falling far short of the 500,000 that were expected, and offering one of the most dismal outlooks from a US jobs report all year.
Monthly job growth this year has averaged 561,000.
Supply chain bottlenecks and Covid-19 contributed to the unimpressive numbers.
But Biden argued the country is making 'consistent steady progress.'
'If you take a step back, look at what's happening, we're actually making real progress. Maybe doesn't seem fast enough - I'd like to see it faster,' he said. 'We're making consistent steady progress.'
He argued the declining unemployment rate meant the country was moving forward as it grappled with its economic recovery from the COVID pandemic.
'Uemployment rate down 4.8%, a significant improvement from when I took office and the sign that our recovery is moving forward,' he said.
He did not respond to questions from reporters after he made his remarks.
President Joe Biden tried to put a positive spin on the worst jobs report of his presidency, urging Americans to look at the bigger picture and pushing his infrastructure bills and his trillion-dollar social program
Still, Friday's report from the Labor Department showed that unemployment slipped more than expected, from 5.2 percent in August to 4.8 percent in September. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had only expected unemployment to slip to 5.1 percent.
The government doesn't count people as unemployed unless they're actively seeking jobs, so some may have ceased their search. The number of unemployed people fell to 7.7 million.
Biden and White House officials also blame the COVID pandemic for the tough numbers.
'Today's report is based on a survey that was taken during the week of September 13. Not today, September the 13th -- when Covid cases were average more than 150,000 per day,' Biden said. 'Since then, we've seen the daily cases fall by more than one-third and they're continuing to trend down, and we're continuing to make progress.'
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the pandemic had some people afraid of re-entering the work force.
'People are still fearful of COVID. And what it will be like in workplaces and ensuring their own safety,' she said at the daily press briefing.
Republicans are calling the new jobs numbers 'pathetic' and say it's proof the it's proof his multi-trillion spending plans aren't working.
The report served as another blow after Biden earned his lowest approval rating yet - 38% - according to a new Quinnipiac Poll.
Still, Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain touted the report.
'The unemployment rate is now down to 4.8% -- in just eight months. We've created 2x more jobs under @POTUS in his first nine months than any administration in history,' Klain wrote on Twitter.
In another tweet, he shared a New York Times analysis, and wrote: 'The jobs numbers are pretty good actually...'
Friday's report from the Labor Department showed that unemployment slipped more than expected, from 5.2 percent in August to 4.8 percent in September
The monthly US jobs report has fallen short again with employers adding just 194,000 in September compared to the estimates of 500,000
Data from previous months was also revised upwards - 38,000 jobs were added to July's figures, bringing the number up to a robust 1.053 million, and August's disappointment was raised from 235,000 to 366,000.
As the economy emerges from the havoc of the Delta variant, many employers are still struggling to find workers as those who lost their job due to the pandemic have yet to start looking again.
Federally enhanced unemployment benefits officially ended in September, meaning unemployment checks shrank by $300 a week, but so far ending the benefits has not spurred a momentous return to the workforce.
Governors in about half of US states ended their enhanced benefits before the Sept. 5 deadline.
While the private sector payroll increased by 317,000, government employment fell by 123,000.
Notable gains were seen in the leisure and hospitality industry (+74,000). Professional and business services saw a gain of 60,000, retail and trade saw 56,000 and transportation and warehousing saw 47,000.
But local government education lost 144,000 workers last month and state government lost 17,000.
Average hourly earnings rose 0.6% in September, up 4.6% year over year. Economists had expected a 0.4% increase.
Stocks wobbled after the figures were released, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping by about 30 points, or 0.1%, after a boost Thursday evening from the Senate passing the raise to the debt limit.
Republicans said the new figures proved the nation did not need the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.
'Joe Biden's Jobs Crisis is getting worse. The latest jobs report fell far short of expectations, and the president continues to over promise and underdeliver,' Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-Ga., wrote on Twitter.
'Clearly, his big government, trillion dollar, socialist plans aren't working. They're just bankrupting Americans.'
'Joe Biden's Build Back Broke agenda continues to hurt American workers, drive up the cost of everyday goods, and crush small businesses,' RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. 'The latest jobs report, creating 300,000 fewer jobs than expected, proves that trillions more in reckless spending and higher taxes will only further squander the economic recovery and leave working families behind. Americans cannot afford Biden's disastrous Build Back Broke agenda.'
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that Biden's vaccine mandates will make the problem worse.
'Our economy is hurting, and still @JoeBiden wants to force private businesses to mandate vaccines and fire Americans who won't comply. He clearly doesn't understand how the economy works,' he wrote on Twitter.
'Yikes… A disappointing September #JobsReport, to say the least. Only a 194k increase, well short of expectations for 500k new jobs. In addition to #Bidenflation, the #BorderCrisis and #AfghanistanCrisis, can add #EmploymentCrisis to his list,' Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., wrote on Twitter.
Even CNN called the report the 'worst of the year' and CNBC Squawk Box hosts reacted to the report with astonishment.
'Whoa!' host Becky Quick said.
'I see 194,000? That is real low,' Steve Liesman said. 'Let me go to the jobless rate — wow, big decline, 4.8 percent, 5.1 was expected. Let me … see if I can find where the jobs were, and I think in this case, where the jobs weren't.'
'It was definitely a weaker number than expected,' Liesman added.
'September now coming in weaker than August … and I think that's the big story here.'
Research by economists at Goldman Sachs found that unemployed people who were looking for work were much more likely to take jobs when their benefits ended.
But the early cut-offs did not cause people on the sidelines to start searching again, Goldman concluded.
Another reason workers are scarce is a surge in retirements among older, more affluent workers whose home equity and stock portfolios have surged since the pandemic struck and who have managed to build up savings.
Goldman Sachs estimates that about 1.5 million people have retired who wouldn't have before the pandemic upended the economy. Many of these people will likely stay retired, economists expect.
Biden this week reached some of the lowest poll numbers of his presidency, according to Quinnipiac University.
Just 38% approve of Biden's job as president, and 53% disapprove, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University. Three weeks ago, the same poll found that 42% approved and 50% disapproved.
Thirty-two percent of Independents approve of Biden while 60% disapprove. Four percent of Republicans approve, 94% disapprove. Still, 80% of Democrats approve of the president's job overall and 10% disapprove, according to the poll.
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