Since President Joe Biden took office job growth has been vigorous and steady. Administration officials and Biden allies happily point to the job creation data as a sign of accomplishment. President Biden aides also hope he can spend more time focusing on other ways that government is working to make concrete changes in peoples’ lives, with infrastructure investments and the improving economy.
And it’s true that this is the most jobs created in the first 100 days of any presidency since records began in 1939.
This Joe Biden Boom has been particularly strong for workers who have access to better-paying job and are seeing their wages growing after decades of seeing economic benefits accrue to the wealthy. Though President Biden’s first year in office was a successful one economically, major challenges sill remain due to Covid-19 and war in Ukraine.
The Federal Reserve, which is attempting to stop runaway inflation by raising interest rates five times this year for a total of three percentage points, closely monitors the Job Openings and Labor Turnover data.
The extremely tight labor market, which had been showing approximately two job opportunities for every available worker, has been one of the central bank’s main areas of interest. In August, that ratio decreased to 1.67 to 1.
Due to the excessive demand for the limited labor pool, which has helped drive up salaries considerably, the employment market has been a major contributor to inflation. Over the past 12 months, up through August, average hourly earnings increased 5.2%. However, after accounting for inflation, real earnings actually fell 2.8%.
The number of job openings decreased to 10.1 million on the last business day of August, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires and total separations were little changed at 6.3 million
and 6.0 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.2 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.5
million) were little changed. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings,
hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.
Job Openings
On the last business day of August, the number and rate of job openings decreased to 10.1 million
(-1.1 million) and 6.2 percent, respectively. The largest decreases in job openings were in health care
and social assistance (-236,000), other services (-183,000), and retail trade (-143,000). (See table 1.)
Hires
In August, the number of hires was little changed at 6.3 million, and the rate was unchanged at 4.1
percent. Hires decreased in federal government (-8,000).
President Joe Biden has governed from the center, remained sensitive to important issues affecting voters on the left and right and achieved a high level of bipartisanship. Joe Biden’s accomplishments are similar to other priorities from the major initiatives by former Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Johnson and Reagan. Two Republicans and two Democrats.
The impressive legislative victories so far have only led to a major rise in President Biden’s approval ratings.
President Biden comments on March job reports, says U.S. economy ‘on the move’
