The U.S. added 916,000 jobs in March, far exceeding expectations and offering a sign that the economy is strengthening even as the fight against the coronavirus pandemic continues. Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, pointed to the American Rescue Plan as part of the reason for the drastic surge in added jobs.
Boushey said focusing on vaccine distribution and providing Americans with additional income in the form of stimulus checks were confidence boosters for the economy.
"We don’t want to make too much of any one-month trend, but this is certainly a step in the right direction. And, I think it reflects all of the work we have done to try to contain the pandemic and to get all of that aid and support out to so many millions of families all across the country," she told Cheddar.
Average Wages Drop
Though the report blew expectations out of the water by roughly 300,000 jobs, data shows that recently hired Americans are earning less than those who were added to payrolls in previous months. Average earnings fell by a tenth of a percentage point. Boushey attributed the decline to the surge in rehires of low-wage workers. Jobs in sectors like leisure and hospitality, education, and construction account for many of the added roles last month.
Analysts expect average wages to continue slipping as more local economies reopen and people in low-wage positions are rehired even as the Federal Reserve expects inflation to rise.
"The wage numbers in recent months have been elevated because so many workers who were in those face-to-face jobs in retail or in the leisure and hospitality sectors that make less than average were out of work. So, now that they’re coming back in, you’re seeing that affect the average numbers," Boushey said.
"We know that even pre-pandemic when we were still in the longest recovery in U.S. recorded history, we were not seeing the kinds of wage growth that we really needed to see for families in the bottom and the middle of the wage distribution," she further explained. "And so as we looked at the American Rescue Plan, as we look at the American Jobs Plan, a core goal is to make sure that we’re not just creating jobs but that we're creating good jobs and we’re focused on making sure that there are jobs that can support a family."
Unemployment Racial Disparities
However, there is concern that trending growth could be skewed in the April jobs report because of rising COVID-19 infections. As a result, Boushey said the Biden administration’s first priority is to contain the virus and ramp up vaccination efforts with the issue of economic growth second.
Data in the March jobs report shows there are continuing unemployment disparities in the Black and Latino communities, and Asian Americans saw the unemployment rate in their community grow nearly a full percentage point from February. Boushey said she will be watching "very closely" to see if that was a single-month event or it is the first sign of a greater trend, although she noted Asian American unemployment is currently about average when compared to the overall economy.
For the Biden administration, its American Rescue Plan, which was signed in mid-March, "was an important step forward" in closing the wealth gap for minorities.
"If you go through the plan, there are so many pieces that are really targeted at making sure that we are creating those good jobs in all parts of our economy and that we are being really attentive to the inequities across communities, especially by race," she noted.
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
Week one of UN climate summit is coming to an end, world leaders made a number of promises to save the planet. President Biden attended the first two days of the meeting.
Alan Neuhauser, vice president of Silverline Communications, joined Cheddar Politics to talk more about the pledges that came out from the summit and their significance.
It's been a busy week for the Supreme Court. It heard arguments on three of the most watched cases in the docket for this term. The court heard arguments in two cases challenging the Texas abortion law on Monday - one filed by abortion providers and the other by the justice department. Instead of weighing in on the constitutionality of the matter itself, justices focused on the unusual structure of the law that enables citizens to enforce the law, not the state government.
On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
This is the first installment of Cheddar Changemakers, where we spotlight young activists making a difference in the world and speaking up on issues regarding mental health, voting, and climate change.
Republicans are considered, and often act like, the party opposed to action on climate change. They've made a point of fighting even modest regulations on businesses related to stemming the worst effects of climate change. But Republicans aren't a monolith on climate change, and our next guest reminds us that "conservation" and "conservative" have the same word root.
Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
