Biden to Emphasize Job Market Gains During State of the Union Address

The unemployment rate has fallen swiftly and now stands at 4 percent — down from a 14.7 percent peak in May 2020. Economists in a Bloomberg survey expect the February rate, which will be released on Friday, to be down to 3.9 percent. That progress has come much more quickly than many economists, including officials at the Federal Reserve, had anticipated. Meanwhile, job openings have surged and companies are paying up to attract workers.

The question is how much of the progress owes to the administration’s policies. Some of it probably can be attributed to them: By pumping money into the economy and stoking consumer demand, the $1.9 trillion aid package Democrats passed last year has created more need for employees and has probably goosed hiring.

But strong demand has been a double-edged sword: It has also collided with constrained supply chains to push prices higher, and inflation is eroding wage gains, even as average hourly earnings pick up at the fastest pace in decades across a range of measures, especially for rank-and-file workers and those with less education.

In fact, price gains have been so quick that pay has often failed to keep up with them in recent months, on average.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/business/economy/biden-jobs-state-of-the-union.html