Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida) praised the White House for the positive jobs report released Friday, saying, “The president is really getting this done.”
The US created more than 270,000 jobs in May, far exceeding the 185,000 expected, according to data from the Department of Labor. The findings, however, also showed that the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4 percent.
“The numbers don’t lie. Things are great and the president is really getting it done, especially after the pandemic,” Frost said said in an interview Friday with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. “I think people who aren’t feeling this, which is very valid, are thinking about the high prices of things.”
Despite the good news, the Biden administration has had difficulty communicating economic victories to voters as prices – from food to housing – remain high.
Nearly three in five Americans in a recent Harris poll said the U.S. is still in recession, despite a record number of new jobs created under Biden and the longest period of unemployment below 4% since the 1960s.
Experts say everything from the lingering impacts of 40-year high inflation to the changing media landscape are to blame for the divide in how Americans view the economy and what the statistics show.
The “All In with Chris Hayes” host noted Friday that Americans think the economy is not rising despite the data, saying, “the cost of housing is a big problem for people” but that “it’s being driven by local politics and the Fed.” not Biden.
Frost apparently agreed, adding that the president “has been focusing on junk taxes, thinking about how we’re going to help renters, how we’re going to help people buy and build wealth.”
The May jobs report comes as the Federal Reserve is expected to meet next week to vote on whether to raise interest rates. Rates have remained largely stable this year and inflation is still above target.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
