Forbes reacts to Biden jobs remarks: Throwing ‘roadblocks’ in front of economic recovery
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Steve Forbes on dismal U.S. jobs report.
Forbes Media Chairman Steve Forbes said on Friday that President Biden’s remarks on the new jobs report amounted to a "fairytale" about economic recovery.
"He ignores the fact that before the COVID crisis hit, American unemployment was lower. Lower-income people’s wages were rising at a faster pace than the rest of the workforce and things were going in the right direction," Forbes told "The Faulkner Focus."
Forbes claimed Biden "hobbled the recovery from COVID as the lockdowns ended."
"His war on oil and gas, for example, [caused] rising energy costs, which hits everyone," Forbes added.
'SPECIAL REPORT' ALL-STAR PANEL ON BIDEN'S ECONOMY, JOB NUMBERS
Forbes reacted to Biden saying his economic plan is working after the jobs report showed the U.S. economy added a record 6.4 million jobs in 2021.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the December 2021 jobs report in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. U.S. employers added fewer jobs in December than forecast, while the jobless rate fell more than expected, adding to evidence of a challenging hiring environment that's making it tough to meet demand amid the persistent pandemic. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images ( Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"That’s the most jobs in any calendar year by any president in history," the commander-in-chief said Friday at the White House after the release of Labor Department data.
"America is back to work," he added.
U.S. job growth faltered in December, just before the rapid spread of the new omicron coronavirus variant cast a fresh threat over the economy and its recovery from the pandemic.
The Labor Department said in its monthly payroll report released Friday that payrolls in December rose by 199,000, sharply missing the 400,000 jobs forecast by Refinitiv economists. The unemployment rate, which is calculated based on a separate survey, dropped to 3.9% from 4.2% — the lowest level since the pandemic began.
The labor market had been gaining momentum after a delta-induced slowdown over the summer, but the latest figure represents the second consecutive month of worse-than-expected growth, following upwardly revised gains of 249,000 in November and 648,000 in October. The last time job growth was this slow was in December 2020, when employers cut 306,000 positions.
Forbes called Biden’s Build Back Better bill the "big bad bill" because the massive tax increases there would hurt job creation and hurt the growth of the economy.
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He added that the massive spending Biden favors would result in more money-printing and inflation as the Federal Reserve has to finance the deficits.
"So you put it all together, he has taken something where if he had done nothing he would look like a hero today. But they are standing in the way of recovery rather than enhancing it, they're throwing roadblocks to it," he said, adding that Biden's vaccine mandates and "public-shaming" of the unvaccinated have caused people to leave the workforce.
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