Although the economy added 10.7 million jobs between Biden’s inauguration and December, that total is far short of its pre-pandemic peak in February 2020.
Since Biden became president, economic recovery has largely been driven by record inflation; when adjusted for inflation, wages among rank and file employees rose 9.5% during his term in office.
Job Growth in 2023
At an August 16 celebration honoring the reopening of bridges and replacement of rusted lead pipes, Vice President Joe Biden noted that an legislation he backed, the American Rescue Plan passed in March 2021 during a coronavirus pandemic ravaging America, had helped create almost 10 million jobs.
White House staff explained to us that their statement related to 9.5 million net new jobs created during Biden’s presidency. According to official Bureau of Labor Statistics data, this figure is accurate; however, using this number as evidence for the American Rescue Plan would be inaccurate; since its passage didn’t occur until January 2021 – two months into his term; therefore crediting it with job creation that would have occurred regardless cannot be given.
Economists generally believe the Affordable Care Act did boost job creation to some extent, though they say it’s too soon to attribute all 10 million jobs Biden claims are related to it. Furthermore, this has not been an ideal time for workers: wages have stagnated for years while personal savings rates hit near seventeen-year lows; full-time employment continues its steady decline and prime-age workers relying on public assistance programs like food stamps are becoming more common; all signs that the economy may stall instead of providing its predicted soft landing.
Job Growth in 2022
At least since Biden took office, the economy has been performing relatively modestly. This week’s jobs report did nothing to alter this assessment: It revealed that all lost jobs during pandemic have been restored but that net new job creation since February 2022 only added 4.86 million.
That number doesn’t seem impressive when measured against the number of unemployed and percentage of population with jobs; even worse when factoring in that this job growth was concentrated primarily within health care and social assistance industries.
The rest of the economy has struggled to keep up with the explosive expansion in health care. Most states experienced below average job growth; exceptions included Nevada and Texas.
Economy flourished during 2021-2022 thanks to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and other legislation passed under his watch that invested billions into construction projects and other efforts designed to stimulate the economy. But it should be remembered that no evidence supports its claim of creating 10 million additional jobs; rather, the Congressional Budget Office predicted that without it occurring, organic job growth would have continued at a similar pace without legislation interfering.
Job Growth in 2021
Presidents’ actions and words regarding jobs can have far-reaching repercussions. This is particularly evident during monthly employment reports that are closely followed by investors as an indicator of consumer spending; furthermore, this data provides critical input to the Federal Reserve when setting interest rates.
As such, accurate economic reporting is paramount and past presidents who overstated its impact have been punished politically.
The White House made this claim based on official Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing 9.5 million jobs have been created since the Biden administration started, including an uptick due to passage of the American Rescue Plan. Unfortunately, those numbers can be misleading for several reasons.
First and foremost, they ignore that these figures include 22 million jobs lost during pandemic shutdowns; these new positions mainly consist of low-wage government work. Furthermore, manufacturing jobs have rebounded to their pre-pandemic levels after having lost over four million during shutdowns; therefore the real figure for job creation may actually be closer to 4.2 million; still not an impressive achievement considering 2021 was only the third-best year since 1940 for job growth percentage increases.
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