President Joe Biden delivered a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia, addressing union workers at the Annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade. During his speech, he criticized the Trump economy and promoted what he called “Bidenomics,” attributing it to record job creation.
Biden claimed there had been 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, emphasizing the positive impact of his administration on job creation, despite negative news reports. He also made a historical comparison, mentioning that only two presidents, including his predecessor, left office with fewer jobs than when they began. He rhetorically asked the audience if they could guess who the other president was, revealing it to be Herbert Hoover.
Biden credited the turnaround in job numbers to the workers, contrasting the previous administration’s outsourcing of jobs to China with his administration’s efforts to bring jobs back from China.
The Trump campaign responded by defending the former president’s economic record, highlighting low unemployment rates for various demographic groups and accusing Biden of damaging job growth and causing inflation through excessive government spending.
Fact-checkers, however, noted that Biden’s comparisons with Trump lacked important context. They pointed out that comparing net job figures over a four-year period to a single one-month change in employment is unconventional and can be misleading. Experts suggested that a more meaningful analysis would consider factors like job creation before the pandemic, pandemic-related job losses, and the recovery compared to other countries.
Additionally, the state-level response to COVID-19 during the Trump presidency significantly affected economic recovery, with states implementing varying levels of lockdowns. Some states with less stringent restrictions initially saw faster job recovery than heavily locked-down states.
Biden’s claim that his administration is “bringing jobs home from China” also came with a caveat. While foreign-born U.S. workers saw significant job gains, a corresponding number of native-born workers lost their jobs, resulting in a complex employment landscape.
In summary, Biden’s Labor Day speech touted his administration’s achievements in job creation and economic recovery while making historical comparisons to previous presidents. However, fact-checkers noted that these comparisons lacked nuance, and the economic landscape is influenced by various factors, including the state-level response to the pandemic and shifts in the labor force.
