Disappointing April jobs data pose new challenge for Biden agenda

WASHINGTON - The United States added just 266,000 jobs in April -- a quarter of the number expected -- in a surprise setback for President Joe Biden's efforts to revive an economy blighted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The weak hiring also pushed the unemployment rate up slightly to 6.1 percent, according to the Labor Department's monthly employment report released Friday.

The disappointing data defied economists' upbeat predictions that widespread Covid-19 vaccines and government relief measures would allow business to return to normal and add one million jobs last month.

Biden said such setbacks are not unusual during recoveries, and the data undermined criticism that his massive spending programs were not needed given the economy was already recovering.

"We knew we were facing a once-in-a-century pandemic and once-in-a generation economic crisis. We knew this wouldn't be a sprint, it'd be a marathon," the president said in comments following the data release.

He again called on Congress to approve two spending proposals costing more than $4 trillion that are aimed at revamping US infrastructure and the workforce.

"We can't let up. This jobs report makes that clear. We've got too much work to do," he said.

While analysts say the jobs rebound may still happen in coming months, the report nonetheless represents a hitch in that assumption.

"This is a big miss that changes how we think about the recovery," University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers said on Twitter.

The data showed the economy has 8.2 million fewer jobs than it had in February 2020, before the pandemic hit.

AFP