Joe Biden is more responsible for high inflation than for abundant jobs
economic record that really matters is jobs. America’s roaring labour market beat expectations again in April. The unemployment rate is lower than in any year since 1969.
The share of 15- to 64-year-olds in employment has surpassed its pre-pandemic peak, which was itself the highest seen since 2007. Mr Biden likes to tell people that his presidency, which began in the midst of a rapid recovery from covid lockdowns, has coincided with more monthly job creation, on average, than any other in history. Provided America avoids a debt-ceiling crisis, and the associated halt to federal spending and probable lay-offs, the booming labour market looks like a ticket to re-election in 2024.
Unfortunately for Mr Biden, however, another part of his record tells a less flattering story. High inflation continues to imperil the economy and vex voters. And placing his record in a global context reveals that he is more responsible for surging prices than he is for abundant jobs.
Mr Biden is right that America’s post-covid jobs recovery has been exceptional by historical standards. After the global financial crisis it took 13 years, by some measures, for the labour market to regain its health. This time it has taken little more than three years.
The White House attributes surging employment to the $1.9trn “rescue plan" Mr Biden unleashed shortly after taking office in 2021. It contributed nearly a third of America’s total pandemic-related fiscal stimulus, which was worth an astonishing 26% of GDP, more than twice the average in the rich world. If the Biden stimulus had been responsible for the jobs boom, though, you would expect America’s labour market to be stronger than those of its peers.
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