US President Joe Biden is already set on promoting his upcoming trillion-dollar infrastructure and family support proposals. Biden highlighted the importance of the passage of the bills following a low April jobs report.
Last week, Biden said during his remarks that even as the numbers have shown that the country is on track to revive the economy, there is still more work to be done. The job reports for April were revealed to be lower than expected, despite the expectation by economists that the jobs number would be higher. Hours prior to Biden’s remarks, the Labor Department reported that hiring slowed down in April, nonfarm payrolls increasing by a less-than-expected 266,000 with the unemployment rate rising by 6.1 percent.
“This month’s job numbers show we are on the right track,” said Biden. “But we still have a long way to go. My laser focus is on growing the nation’s economy and creating jobs. My laser focus is on vaccinating, and my laser focus is on one more thing: making sure that hardworking people in this country are no longer left out in the cold.”
Biden added that the slow pacing of the economy’s recovery was to refute the critics of the administration’s COVID-19 relief efforts. “Today’s report just underscores, in my view, how vital the actions we are taking are. Our efforts are starting to work, but the climb is steep, and we have a long way to go.”
The low jobs report may strengthen the Biden administration’s argument of the importance of passing the $4 trillion infrastructure and families’ plans needed to help the country’s economy to fully recover.
In other news, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are still determined to get Biden to forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt. Warren renewed her push to Biden last week as the White House considers whether he has the authority to cancel the debt with an executive order.
At an event hosted by the Washington Post, Warren said that she and Schumer are determined to get Biden to issue an order to forgive the student debt loans of up to $50,000.