WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said that a report showing modest U.S. job growth in May is a sign of “historic progress” for the economy.
“Today’s jobs report shows historic progress for American families and the American economy,” Biden said on Twitter. “America is on the move again.”
The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday showed 559,000 nonfarm jobs created last month, with wages rising, though millions of unemployed Americans remained at home.
Economists suspect the factors keeping people from working may include childcare issues and generous unemployment checks.
Half of U.S. states, all of them led by Republican governors, are cutting off billions of dollars in unemployment benefits for residents, rebuffing a key part of Biden’s response to the coronavirus recession.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
