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joe biden
'Wowza': Economy Added 254,000 Jobs Under Biden-Harris in September
"This labor market," said one economist, "is the result of policy choices that prioritized full employment—as it turns out putting people first, works."
Oct 04, 2024
Friday's job report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics offered a "better than expected" picture of job growth as federal unemployment hit 4.1% and more than a quarter-million people were added to the payroll last month alone.
In what ABC Newsnoted was "one of the last major pieces of economic data before the presidential election," the jobs report offered an indication of economic strength—a possible boon to outgoing President Joe Biden's legacy and a political advantage to Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of November 5.
"U.S. hiring surged in September," the news outlet reported, "blowing past economist expectations and rebuking concern about weakness in the labor market."
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich responded to the new data Friday morning by pointing out that "more jobs have been created during the Biden-Harris presidency than during any single presidential term in history."
Donald Trump "doesn't often tell the truth, but he was right about this," added Reich, who quoted the GOP presidential candidate in 2004 admitting that "the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans."
More jobs have been created during the Biden-Harris presidency than during any single presidential term in history.
Trump doesn't often tell the truth, but he was right about this:
"The economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans." — Donald Trump in 2004 pic.twitter.com/32XQnqbbb1
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) October 4, 2024
"Wowza," said economist Justin Wolfers, a professor at the University of Michigan and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, in response to Friday's report.
Mentioning how payrolls grew by over 254,000 in September—"well above expectations"—and that large upward revisions were made to the August and July payroll numbers, Wolfers said the overall picture shows an "economic expansion that is motoring along."
September jobs report: US economy adds 254,000 jobs vs. 150,000 expected pic.twitter.com/fUZvzx8tuK
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) October 4, 2024
"It was 'wow' across the board, much stronger than expected," Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab, toldCNBC. "The bottom line is it was a very good report. You get upward revisions and it tells you the job market continues to be healthy, and that means the economy is healthy."
Pointing to a recent analysis by her colleague Josh Bevins, Economic Policy Institute (EPI) economist Hilary Wething on Friday credited the strong performance represented by the new jobs numbers as the result of specific policies by the administration.
"You might think we just magically stumbled upon a consistently strong labor market—but no, this labor market is the result of policy choices that prioritized full employment—as it turns out putting people first, works," said Wething.
Elise Gould, a senior economist at EPI, also championed the "strong" figures:
In a blog post on Thursday, ahead of Friday's report—Gould detailed the strength of the labor market, despite the real pain that many workers and families still feel in their day to day lives:
It is indisputable that the U.S. labor market is strong. The share of the population ages 25–54 with a job is at a 23-year high, median household incomes rose 4.0% last year, and real wage growth over the last four years has been broad-based and strong. The economy has not only regained the nearly 22 million jobs lost in the pandemic recession, but also added another 6.5 million.
Are some folks still having a hard time? Absolutely. Even when the unemployment rate is low, there are still sidelined workers, and it remains difficult for many families to make ends meet on wages that are still too low. Unfortunately, that's a long-term phenomenon stemming from a too-stingy U.S. welfare state, rising inequality, and the legacy of anemic wage growth during past economic recoveries. But when comparing the labor market with four years ago (during the pandemic recession) or even before the pandemic began, the answer is clear: More workers have jobs and wages are beating inflation by solid margins.
With the Federal Reserve easing interest rates, in part based based on the strength of the hiring trends alongside lower inflation, Friday's jobs report was welcomed as a show of strength for progressives who have argued since the Covid-19 pandemic that pro-worker policies—as opposed to endless fealty to the demands of corporate powers and Wall Street—alongside public investments can work together to create strong economic foundations for the nation.
"Today's strong jobs report confirms once again that we never had to throw millions of people out of work to tame inflation," said Kitty Richards, a senior fellow with the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative.
"Thanks to big investments in [pandemic] relief, manufacturing, and green energy, inflation is low, and the economy is still delivering for workers," Richards said. "The pundits who said we couldn't have low unemployment, growing wages, and stable prices at the same time have been proven wrong."
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80+ Groups Have Message for Biden: 'No War With Iran!'
"It is not in the national interest for the U.S. to be led into a war with Iran," the groups stressed.
Oct 03, 2024
On the same day that President Joe Biden said his administration and Israeli leaders are "discussing" an attack on Iranian oil infrastructure, a coalition of over 80 advocacy groups on Thursday implored the U.S. leader to "halt Israel's march toward regional war."
The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) led the groups in a letter to Biden asserting that "it is not in the national interest for the U.S. to be led into a war with Iran" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu's far-right government.
The letter's signers include Just Foreign Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation, IfNotNow, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, CodePink, Peace Action, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
"The primary ask behind this letter is that the Biden administration utilize the significant leverage it has to rein in Netanyahu as he continues to proceed with a consistently failed 'deescalation through escalation' approach throughout the region that has cost countless civilian lives," NIAC explained.
As stated in the letter, "It is in the strong national interest to utilize diplomacy, backed by full American leverage—including withholding further offensive weapons transfers to Israel's military—to move all the parties back from the brink and toward a cease-fire that ends the devastation of Gaza and Lebanon and reverses the slide to regional war."
"Moreover, we urge you to recognize and respect that Congress has not authorized military force against Iran or militias backed by Iran, and that any potential military action against Iran could only proceed following a debate and passage of a war authorization before entering our troops into any imminent hostilities in the region," the groups continued.
"President Biden has recently spoken of steps he has taken to wind down America's military footprint abroad," the letter adds. "However, unless he acts quickly and decisively through diplomacy, it appears that a new endless war will be his legacy."
The U.S. provides Israel with billions of dollars worth of armed aid and diplomatic cover for its yearlong war on Gaza, which has killed or wounded more than 148,000 Palestinians and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case.
Fears of a full-blown regional war have mounted recently as Israel escalates hostilities by assassinating Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Tehran and Beirut and as Israeli forces invade southern Lebanon accompanied by a bombing campaign that has left thousands of Lebanese dead and wounded.
Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based political and paramilitary group, has been engaged in limited cross-border projectile attacks on Israel in solidarity with Gaza, resulting in scores of deaths and injuries.
"The wars in the Middle East are just getting more and more dangerous, not only with Lebanon, but now with Iran," CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin said Wednesday in a video urging Americans to call their members of Congress to demand peace. "Netanyahu has been trying to drag the U.S. into a war with Iran for years, and unfortunately, there are many members in this Congress... who are all too eager to go along with him."
Benjamin highlighted remarks by U.S. lawmakers including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) who said Tuesday that attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities are "fair game."
"Let's remember it's Israel that has nuclear weapons, not Iran," said Benjamin, who added that attacking Iran would encourage Tehran's allies "to strike U.S. soldiers in the region."
Benjamin also noted Sen. Robert Wicker's (R-Miss.) call for regime change in Tehran—one of the latest in a long line of such calls over the past 45 years—and admonished U.S. officials for "forgetting the disastrous attempts of regime change that the U.S. did recently in Iraq, in Libya, in Afghanistan," and that "the present government in Iran is there precisely because of the U.S. overthrowing their democratically elected government in 1953."
"We want to live in peace," Benjamin added. "We want to stop supporting the genocide that Israel is carrying out... We don't want any more weapons sent to the region... We the American people don't want war with Iran. We want to live in peace."
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Biden Says US, Israel 'Discussing' Attack on Iran's Oil Infrastructure
"If the president was intentionally trying to help Trump win, what would be the difference between how he's acting now?" asked one observer, who noted how Biden's saber-rattling drove up the price of oil.
Oct 03, 2024
After saying Wednesday that he would not back Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said his administration and Israel are weighing the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil infrastructure in response to this week's missile barrage targeting the key American ally.
Asked by a reporter outside the White House in Washington, D.C. if he supported an Israeli attack on Iran's oil infrastructure following Tuesday's missile attack on Israel, Biden said, "We're discussing that."
"There's nothing that's going to happen today," he added.
The price of crude oil shot up 5% to $77 per barrel on Thursday following Biden's remarks.
Mulling the possible implications of higher oil prices on next month's U.S. presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, Jacobin's Branko Mercetic said on social media Thursday, "If the president was intentionally trying to help Trump win, what would be the difference between how he's acting now?"
Iran's missile strike, in which no Israelis were killed or seriously harmed, came in response to a series of Israeli assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Iran and Lebanon.
Responding to the Iranian attack, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Tuesday that there will be "consequences" and that Israel would "will act in the time and place that we choose."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Iran "will pay a heavy price" for its attack.
Iran, meanwhile, warned that any Israeli attack on its territory would result in a "stronger response" than Tuesday's strike.
Some Republican members of U.S. Congress are pushing Biden to attack Iran.
"It is not enough to issue statements," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday.
"The Biden administration has repeatedly threatened Iran with 'severe consequences' for its campaign of terror against Israel and the United States, but failed to impose them," he added. "It has pledged 'ironclad' support for Israel, only to delay and withhold the security assistance that would give this pledge any weight."
Biden's comments came as Israel advised residents of 20 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate, suggesting that Israeli forces could ramp up their invasion of its northern neighbor, from which Hezbollah has been launching rockets in support of Palestinian resistance against Israel's war on Gaza—for which the key U.S. ally is on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice.
Thousands of Lebanese have been killed or wounded by Israeli attacks. More than 148,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israeli forces in Gaza.
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