Labor secretary said ending tightened unemployment benefits had nothing to do with ‘great’ jobs report



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US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh argued on Friday, after the July jobs report found that US employers hired more workers than expected last month, that “there is no indication” that extended unemployment benefits end in some states before September expires “added” to “big” report.

Walsh joined “Varney & Co.” Friday, shortly after the report was released, noting that over the past three months, “an average of 800,000 people entered the workforce” while additional unemployment benefits of $ 300 were in place.

The non-farm payroll rose by 943,000 workers in July as the unemployment rate fell to 5.4%, the Labor Department said on Friday. Analysts polled by Refintiv expected 870,000 jobs to be created and the unemployment rate to fall to 5.7% from 5.9%. The June reading was revised up from 88,000 jobs to 938,000.

The job gains came as three more states ended the extra $ 300 a week in unemployment benefits. A fourth state, Maryland, was to end the benefits, but was prevented from doing so by a Baltimore judge.

Notable job gains were seen in leisure and hospitality (+380,000), which saw two-thirds of jobs created in food services and drinking places. Public and private education (+261,000), professional and business services (+60,000), transportation and warehousing (+50,000) also registered strong gains. Construction and wholesale trade have changed little.

The labor force participation rate was little changed at 61.7%. The rate has remained between 61.4% and 61.7% since June 2020.

Average hourly wages increased 0.4% month over month and 4% annually. Economists were forecasting increases of 0.3% and 3.8% respectively.

The U.S. economy has created 16.7 million jobs since April 2020, but is down 5.7 million from pre-pandemic levels.

US ECONOMY ADDS 943K JOBS IN JULY, BLOWING PAST EXPECTATIONS

Walsh also argued Friday that more government spending is “badly needed in our country” to provide “long-term investments.”

He noted that the report released on Friday found that the United States “has lost ground” in the nursing home and health care sector, which he said shows “that there is a big need a CARES economics program [The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security package] make investments in this area.

He also stressed the importance of adopting the infrastructure bill, which he said concerns “the reconstruction of roads, bridges and infrastructure”.

“It is absolutely necessary in our country,” he stressed.

On Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., tabled two motions Thursday evening to invoke closure of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, hosting a likely vote this weekend on the comprehensive deal supported by President Biden.

Schumer’s decision to table a fence would give senators an “intermediate day” on Friday. The Senate would then proceed to a procedural vote on Saturday to break the filibuster and end debate on a final version of the bill.

The vote to break the filibuster takes 60 days to pass. From there, the Senate could move on to consider a final version of the infrastructure bill, which could pass as early as Saturday or Sunday at the end of the day.

Negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators led by Republican Rob Portman of Ohio and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the proposal includes $ 550 billion in new spending on physical infrastructure projects.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to get GOP senators to approve a deal in what is a key legislative priority for the president.

AN INFRASTRUCTURE AGREEMENT TO ADD $ 256B TO THE DEFICIT, SAYS THE CBO

The Congressional Budget Office predicted that passage of the bill would add more than $ 250 billion to the federal deficit over a 10-year period. Some Republican lawmakers have indicated they want time to review the CBO’s estimates before putting the bill to a vote.

“If you talk to the American people, 70% of the American people think these investments are good,” Walsh said of the $ 1,000 billion bill. “And I think this will be the first time in almost a century that we will make a major investment in the American people of this country and in our economy by creating opportunities in certain employment sectors as well as in infrastructure, so I think that is far exaggerated. ”

“If we had continued for the past 50 years, we wouldn’t have to make the one-time investment now,” he continued.

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Several Republican lawmakers have argued that the infrastructure bill is actually “a liberal spending wish list,” which includes several items unrelated to infrastructure.

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Jonathan Garber and Thomas Barrabi of FOX Business and Fox News Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

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