The figure, frankly bad, will turn into a puzzle for President Joe Biden and the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The United States created only 235,000 jobs in August. This is much less than the 725,000 expected by economists polled by the Bloomberg agency. And it is also a strong fall compared to the excellent figures, moreover revised upwards, of June and July, where 962,000 and 1.05 million jobs had been created. The unemployment rate, which receives less political attention, has fallen from 5.4% of the labor force to 5.2%, but it is still 5.3 million jobs short since February 2020.
The White House accused the resumption of the Covid-19 pandemic to explain this trend reversal on the labor market front. “There is no doubt that the Delta variant explains why today’s employment numbers are not better, lamented Joe Biden. I was hoping for a higher number. “
Summer was to mark the return to normalcy of the economy. It was in reality marked by a withdrawal: the wearing of the mask is again imposed indoors, sometimes outdoors; Covid-19 tests are required more and more often, including for people who are fully vaccinated.
Employment fell by 29,000 jobs in the retail trade, in a country where cash registers are now automatic, while the leisure, hotel and restaurant sectors have not created any jobs. However, 1.7 million are still missing compared to early 2020 in these activities.
A politically hot issue
The president reiterated the need for more Americans to get vaccinated to get things back to normal, saying the United States was not “Not where we need to be in our recovery” ; Only 52.7% of the population is fully vaccinated, while 62% have received at least one dose.
The matter will quickly become politically hot. Federal unemployment benefits, which reach 300 dollars (252 euros) per week, expire this weekend. Some 10 million Americans are expected to lose some or all of these payments – there is also state aid.
These federal aids have been accused by the Republicans and part of the employers, struggling to find labor, especially in restaurants, of promoting voluntary unemployment. On the left, on the contrary, the progressive Democrats are worried, while the teams of the White House are divided, according to an investigation of the Washington Post.
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