WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said on Friday that the United States job’s report is the strongest since World War II.
Biden said the economy is on the move after the labor department showed the nation added 390,000 jobs in May.
“We learned that in May the economy added another 390,000 new jobs, bringing the total since I took office to 8.7 million new jobs — an all-time record,” Biden said speaking from the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center in Delaware on Friday.
(See the complete remarks here.)
Unemployment remained at 3.6 percent for the third straight month, but it comes as the country faces high prices from food to gas, amid a four-decade high inflation.
“I understand that families who are struggling don’t care why prices are up, they just want them to come down. It’s important to understand the root of the problem so we can take steps to solve it,” Biden said.
Biden blamed Russia’s ongoing war and the pandemic for the high prices.
Heather Boushey is a part of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and her remarks come one day after the commander-in-chief addressed the nation in the wake of mass shootings nationwide and a call on Congress to pass new gun control laws.
Boushey told Local 10 News that unemployment remaining at 3.6 percent for the third straight month is partly due to vaccines and treatment to combat COVID-19.
“The inflation that we are seeing today has its roots in the pandemic. We saw that not just the United States, countries are struggling with inflation,” Boushey said.
Biden was asked if he would go to the Hill next week on guns to meet with lawmakers.
“I have been constantly briefed and I’ll do what I can to try to see if we can have some real progress,” Biden said.
Lawmakers are making progress on red flag laws and expanding background checks. The laws could include banning assault weapons and closing loopholes in background checks as a bipartisan group of Senators met this week on gun control.