The Department of Labor just announced its monthly numbers: 431,000 new jobs and 3.6 percent unemployment for the month of March.
What helps bring our economy into such bright light? People are buying, which is what drives the nation’s economy upward. But inflation rates reflect what Americans are feeling at the gas pump and at the grocery store, a 40-year record high rate of seven percent. And buying power is what drives the perception of bad economic news.
Some of the components that have eaten into our current economy include:
- The COVID-19 pandemic and all its variants
- The Russian war against Ukraine
- Supply bottlenecks and the ensuing shortages
President Biden has managed to keep the new jobs rate above 400,000 for 11 out of the last 11 months:
‘Despite the inflation surge, persistent supply bottlenecks, the damaging effects of Covid-19 and now a war in Europe, employers have added at least 400,000 jobs for 11 straight months.’
The public has managed to keep its money in hand, which meant that increased “spending [rose] by a mere 0.2 percent in February.”
The COVID-19 pandemic brought on a recession by dumping 22 million jobs for people. Many citizens exited their jobs during the months of March and April of 2020.
On the other hand, President Biden has been lifting the rigid and exclusionary Donald Trump border parameters. In addition, millions of Ukrainians have been fleeing President Vladimir Putin’s annihilation of a number of their cities. And they will want jobs.
In addition, the economy allows high school and college students to return to the seasonal jobs they once enjoyed. That is welcoming news for immigrants and the nation, too.
A number of businesses simply closed their doors, because they could not weather the pandemic. They saw dropping numbers with people remaining in their homes. The number of home improvement projects also helped the economy, though.
Fortunately, our economic structure bounced back quickly. President Biden has helped it along when he:
- Released federal monthly monies for individuals in 2021.
- Decided to open up federal lands to oil and gas companies plus the fallow wells that have remained in-waiting.
- Committed to bring back jobs from offshore to prevent future bottlenecks.
- Encouraged businesses to be “patriotic” and refrain from “price-gouging.”
- Released an unprecedented million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s reserves, PBS News Hour reported. Then, he will replace them when prices-per-barrel decline.
- Provided borrowers with an extremely low rate for homeownership.
Unfortunately, there is a housing shortage at this time. But that means more jobs to build them.
As the masks come off, people have started buying more than the just basics such as “health care, travel, and entertainment.” Unfortunately, those at the bottom end of the economy still struggle with any additional expenses.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Three White Lions is Gloria Christie’s new serialized book available in episodes on Amazon. Go to Kindle Vella and insert her name. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
