WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Joe Biden touted encouraging economic news on Friday as the nation added 253,000 jobs in April. Unemployment dropped to 3.4 percent matching a 54-year low, a sign that the labor market remains resilient despite inflation.
“Inflation is now down 40 percent since last summer – it’s come down the last 9 months in a row,” said Biden.
And to keep inflation down, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point this week marking the tenth straight hike since March of last year.
It comes as Biden prepares to meet with top congressional leaders next week to discuss the debt ceiling after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the United States could default by June 1 if it is not raised.
“The last thing this country needs after all we’ve been through is a manufactured crisis. That’s what this is. It is a manufactured crisis,” said Biden.
His remarks come after House Republicans passed a bill to raise the debt limit; legislation that would also cut trillions in federal spending over the next decade.
But the White House insists on increasing the nation’s spending with no strings attached.
Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said: “I’m disappointed in the White House. They are missing in action; this should be the biggest issue they are dealing with every day.”
