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Labor Secretary Marty Walsh argues that the dismal employment report was due to the Delta variant, which affected economic activity and, therefore, job growth.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the disappointing September employment report, released on Friday, claiming that the Delta variant had affected economic activity and, therefore, the growth of the economy. use.
Speaking on “Varney & Co.” On Friday, shortly after the September jobs report was released, Walsh pointed out that the United States “still faces a pandemic.”
“We are still dealing with the delta variant,” he continued.
He pointed to the hospitality figures, saying that around 74,000 have been gained in this industry, but acknowledged that the number “should be much higher” and said there were “concerns about it. “.
Walsh argued that the delta variant caused “fewer people going to restaurants”.
U.S. employers hired fewer workers than expected last month as additional unemployment benefits expired.
EMPLOYMENT REPORT EXPECTATIONS WILDLY MISSING
The non-farm payroll rose by 194,000 workers in September as the unemployment rate fell to 4.8%, a pandemic low, the Labor Department said on Friday. Economists polled by Refinitiv expected the addition of 500,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate to drop to 5.1%.
“We still have work to do. There’s no question about it,” Walsh said.
Edward Lawrence of Fox Business breaks down the September jobs report.
Walsh pointed out, however, that the unemployment rate fell below 5%.
“It took us until 2016 to reach that number during the Great Recession, so there are opportunities here that we have ahead of us and we continue to move forward step by step,” he said, stressing that “we are living in unprecedented times.”
He also noted that countries around the world “face the same” when it comes to “labor market concerns” given the global pandemic.
The September report was the first since the $ 300 a week in additional unemployment benefits expired on September 5. Economists are still assessing the impact of the Child Tax Credit, which pays families up to $ 3,600 per child per year. Mandatory vaccine requirements enforced by a growing number of companies will also have an impact in the future.
Walsh said he believed many people “felt that extending unemployment benefits would keep people out of the workforce.”
He then noted that he had said in previous interviews that he “didn’t think that was the reason”.
“I hope that over the next month we will attract more and more people to the workforce,” Walsh continued.
He also said the United States “has created nearly 5 million jobs since President Biden took office” and noted that “vaccination mandates are working.”
“The more people who get vaccinated, the more participation we see in the workplace, so we just have to keep moving forward here,” he continued.
The White House has said millions of federal contractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8 and that the administration will add clauses to future government contracts requiring vaccinations. (GRANT HINDSLEY / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The August jobs report also produced dismal numbers as hiring in the United States slowed sharply with the resurgence of new COVID-19 infections hampering job growth. On Friday, job gains in August were revised to 366,000 from 235,000. Last month, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate fell to 5.2% in August. Analysts polled by Refintiv expected the addition of 728,000 jobs and the unemployment rate to fall to 5.2%.
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Notable job gains in September were in leisure and hospitality (+74,000) were led by arts, entertainment and recreation (+43,000). Hiring in food services and drinking places was little changed for a second consecutive month, after posting an average monthly gain of 197,000 from January to July. Professional and business services (+60,000), retail trade (+56,000) and transportation and warehousing (+47,000) also posted strong gains.
Local government education (-144,000) and state government education (-17,000) lost jobs last month.
The number of workers re-entering the labor market fell from 198,000 last month to 2.3 million. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 61.6% and was 1.7 percentage points lower than its February 2020 level. The rate has remained between 61.4% and 61.7% since June 2020 .
Average hourly wages rose 0.6% in September and 4.6% year-on-year. Economists expected a monthly increase of 0.4% and a gain of 4.6% year over year.
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Jonathan Garber of FOX Business contributed to this report.
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