The September jobs report released Friday, which showed for the second month in a row that U.S. employers added far-fewer jobs than had been expected, is a “repeat” of the economic woes felt during former President Barack Obama’s administration, Rep. Michael Waltz said.
The report points toward an “anemic and flat economic recovery” in the United States,” the Florida Republican told Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
“I think what we are going to see is a repeat of the Obama years where we have this long, slow, anemic kind of flat recovery,” he said. “I can tell you, the small businesses, even some of the large corporations that I’m talking to out there, everyone is afraid of the hammer that is going to drop from Washington, D.C. in raising their taxes and they’re afraid to make investments.”
Further, corporations are “sitting on the sideline,” said Waltz. “Instead of investing in new buildings, new jobs, new growth, everyone is waiting to see what kind of hammer comes from D.C. and this massive tax and spending bill.”
The report showed that U.S. employers added only 194,000 jobs in September, marking the second month in a row that far fewer jobs were added than expected.
President Joe Biden spoke about the report and attributed the numbers to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. He also framed the data as showing progress toward economic recovery.
“Today’s report is based on a survey that was taken during the week of September 13,” Biden pointed out. “Not today, [but] September the 13th, when COVID cases were averaging more than 150,000 per day. Since then, we’ve seen the daily cases fall by more than one-third and they’re continuing to trend down, and we’re continuing to make progress.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate declined to 4.8% in September, down from 5.2% in August. Joblessness also dropped across the board, with the Black unemployment rate falling most, at 7.9% in September, down from 8.8% in August.
