Job growth is going up and up under Biden. Perhaps mainstream media wants to talk about that!
From the first days of the administration, Biden, Harris and congressional Democrats focused on policies that would create more job opportunities for Americans given the 2% decline in cumulative job growth they inherited from Trump.
It was a daunting task. Job recovery from the Great Recession had taken 76 months. But by August 2022, all the jobs that had been lost since April 2020 had been regained — in record time. And the jobs created helped those who “fared the worst after the Great Recession: young, low-wage, and nonwhite workers.” With September’s job numbers coming in at a strong 263,000 jobs created, we’ve surpassed pre-pandemic job growth, and average hourly wages have risen 5%.
Much of the job growth can be credited to investments encouraged by the Biden-Harris administration and by congressional bills like the CHIPS Act and American Rescue Plan that provided support to employers and individuals. But even with the increased jobs, inflation, a worldwide phenomenon, has put a strain on individuals’ bottom line.
Cumulative job growth describes the total growth of non-farm jobs during an administration’s time. When Clinton took office, 150 million people were on non-farm payrolls. Three years later, non-farm payrolls had grown by 30 million people to 180 million, or a cumulative gain of 20%. Because administrations serve for different terms, it’s also helpful to look at annualized jobs creation, where the cumulative job growth is shown as a single year. Since the end of World War II, Democratic administrations have outperformed those of Republican presidents.
Folks on the right, Sen. Joe Manchin, and the Federal Reserve have all focused on demand as the cause of our current inflation. And they have stopped further government investment and raised interest rates. In other words, they want to control inflation by cooling wage growth and job creation, which could throw us into recession.
However, data shows that supply shocks are having the greatest effect on core inflation, and corporations have taken advantage of overall inflation to raise their prices or shrink products. The Center for American Progress research states, “The causes of rising inflation largely reflect problems on the supply side of the economy, including disruptions caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, import bottlenecks due in part to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, and changes in consumer spending patterns due to the pandemic.”
To help with the supply-side issues, the administration needs to work to increase COVID vaccine acceptance, the supply of renewable energy, and immigration, as well as provide more support for child and home care to get more women in the workforce. Further efforts to intensify antitrust laws and enforcement and expand opportunities for job training will also help to cool inflation. Early versions of the Inflation Reduction Act were more robust in addressing these issues, but the final bill was actually a watered-down version crafted to pass the narrow 50/50 split in the Senate.
So if you want inflation to reduce, and job growth and wages to stay up, it’s pretty simple: we need to elect more Democrats.
Check out the rest of the articles in our Biden-Harris series:
The Awesome Accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration
Gen Z and Gun Violence: Your Vote Can Save Lives
Big, Bold Climate Action in the Inflation Reduction Act
The Lifesaving Healthcare Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act
The American Rescue Plan Is Even Better Than You Think
Republicans Have Brought Us to a Fascist Flashpoint
The PACT Act Proves Democrats Care About Our Veterans
The CHIPS and Science Act: A Boon for US Manufacturing and Technology
Eighteen Months in … and I’m Still Ridin’ With Biden
