04 Mar 2022 Jobs Report Not as Good as it Seems

Unemployment is down. But who should take the credit?

The Biden Administration certainly thinks they deserve accolades for the better-than-expected jobs report for the month of February. To the contrary, members of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network are not convinced liberal policies made the employment numbers so rosy.

“In my view, the number one thing to consider with the jobs report – and the economy more holistically – is context,” said Project 21 member Joe Mobley. “Under the Trump Administration, the economy was outperforming all expectations. Then overzealous leaders brought the entire economy to a halt – not COVID, illness and disease, and not death and famine. Leadership took the legs out from under the economy.

“Now President Biden is making every effort to take credit for menial increases in the number of jobs created,” Joe added. “They are a net negative compared to the trajectory the nation was on and the velocity that previous administrations were able to achieve.”

This month’s employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that approximately 678,000 jobs were created last month. This lowered the unemployment rate two-tenths of a point to 3.8%. But the alternative U-5 measure of employment, which also factors in marginalized workers and disgruntled Americans no longer seeking jobs, was at a higher rate of 4.7%. Workforce participation rose a tenth of a point to 62.3% – still lower than the pre-pandemic rate of 63.4%.

“Let’s not beat around the bush. The February jobs report is an undeniably good one. Unemployment is down and the labor force is up. This should mean that Biden’s policies pulled the American economy out of the doldrums, right? No,” noted Project 21 member Michael Austin. “The robust jobs report really suggests Americans are tired of the leftist-induced inflation spiral. Now that liberal state governments are removing unpopular restrictions, they enter the job market to limit the plummeting value of their dollars.”

Michael warned that this boom may actually be a reaction to Biden policies rather than a positive by-product of them: “The reason for the massive growth in jobs is that many Americans sent in applications to the leisure and hospitality industries. This was the most affected industry from state government-imposed vaccine and mask mandates. Since states like California and New York are removing restrictions due to unfavorable polls, Americans are chomping at the bit. It’s likely that Biden’s money-printing and excessive spending are making it too expensive to stay home. Americans want to limit the decreasing value of the dollar as much as possible.”

The report noted that wages underperformed. There was just a 0.03% increase – far below an expected 0.5% rise. As Michael pointed out: “Average paychecks still can’t keep up with inflation’s 7.5% cost of living increase versus the 5.1% wage jump.”

Joe commented that the White House isn’t doing anything to fix this situation. “Just as Bidenflation is sweeping the nation, the administration considers every angle to find a way to inflate the numbers,” he said. “What America needs is for government bureaucracy to get out of the way, a return to deregulation and permission to fire up the economic engine that is capitalism, free markets and a less burdensome environment to start and maintain new businesses.”

Michael agreed. “Biden’s bloated government got us into this mess. Limiting it is the only way out,” he said. “That means reversing his climate change agenda that forces American energy companies to buy from Russia instead of Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. It means cutting government waste so private-sector productivity can push wages beyond inflation. It means removing government dependency so more Americans can see the value and dignity of work instead of relying on handouts.”