(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden praised the September jobs report, calling the numbers an “encouraging sign” that the economy is heading for “steady” growth.
“There is more we can do to grow our economy from the bottom up and in the middle, but we are making progress,” Biden said in a tweet Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 263,000 in September, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 3.5%, according to Labor Department data, matching a five-decade low.
Biden has argued that his economic policies serve to keep the labor market strong. Strong job growth is one of his key arguments for voters ahead of the midterm elections, just a month away, that will determine whether Democrats retain control of the House and Senate.
But high inflation remains a political burden on Biden, complicating his economic message. Republicans had been focusing on the high cost of groceries, housing and other items before November.
Read more: US jobs rise while unemployment falls, keeping pressure on the Fed
The numbers are likely to keep the Federal Reserve in a hurry to raise interest rates again. The Fed had hoped to see a dip in the labor market, with the goal of slowing wage growth and lowering inflation.
The September report came on the heels of an increase of 315,000 in nonfarm payrolls in August, a sign of continued labor market strength. It beats median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists at 255,000 payroll advances and an unemployment rate of 3.7%.
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