It’s Friday.
This Friday also happens to be Good Friday. I’ll be honest while I’m a true believer in Christ my education about what today means, is lacking. I’ve discovered this educational lack when trying to find something to post here to recognize it is indeed Good Friday. So instead I will just wish everyone that celebrates Easter on this Sunday and recognizes that today is Good Friday a very blessed Friday and weekend.
Good Friday also marks President Biden’s 72nd day in office.
For day 72 he will receive his daily brief. By the time this article posts he’ll have already offered brief remarks on the March Jobs Report that was published at 8:30 a.m. D.C., time. At noon-ish D.C., time President Biden will depart D.C., for Camp David.
For Thursday President Biden tweeted 4 times and retweeted 0 times. Three out of the 4 tweets focus on the American Jobs Plan.
3:08 p.m. D.C., time he says he is “convinced” if we spend the $2 trillion estimated price tag for his American Jobs Plan in fifty years folks will look back and say “this was the moment America won the future.”
5:01 p.m. D.C., time he shares a 1 minute and 22 second clip from his remarks on Wednesday unveiling the American Jobs Plan.
7:30 p.m. D.C., time he says that his plan will ensure that “every single American has access to high quality, affordable, high-speed internet.”
All three tweets originated from his speech on Wednesday.
The full transcript of his remarks can be found @ White House.gov.
I will posted the snips from his speech with the time stamp using the White House video of his full remarks. The video is 35 minutes and 14 seconds long, with President Biden’s remarks starting at the 3 minute and 30 second mark.
President Biden (26:05): We have to move now. Because I’m convinced that if we act now, in 50 years, people are going to look back and say this was the moment that America won the future.
President Biden (16:13): Look, today, up to 10 million homes in America and more than 400,000 schools and childcare centers have pipes — where they get their water from — pipes that are lead-based pipes, including pipes for drinking water. According to scientists, there is simply no safe exposure to lead for a child. Lead can slow development, cause learning behaviors and hearing problems. The American Jobs Plan will put plumbers and pipefitters to work, replacing 100 percent of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines so every American, every child can turn on a faucet or a fountain and drink clean water. With each $5,000 investment replacing a line, that can mean up to $22,000 in healthcare costs saved — a chance to protect our children, help them learn and thrive. We can’t delay. We can’t delay another minute.
President Biden (18:02) American Jobs [Plan] will make sure every single — every single American has access to high quality, affordable, high-speed Internet for businesses, for schools.
For his final tweet on Thursday he posted at 9:19 p.m. D.C, time a photo of his first in-person Cabinet meeting.
Full remarks as posted @ White House.gov.
Well, again, thank you all for coming together to form this historic Cabinet. This is the first in American history that the Cabinet looks like America. That’s what we promised we were going to do, and we’ve done it.
I’m grateful that the Senate acted in a bipartisan way, at a modern record speed, to get the Cabinet confirmed. It’s hard to believe, but we are among the quickest formed of all the Cabinet members being — being put in place.
We have a lot to discuss, but while the press is here, I want to make one announcement:
Yesterday, in Pittsburgh, I laid out my vision for rebuilding America with the American Jobs program. And while most of the Cabinet will have a role in helping shape and press the Jobs Plan, today I’m announcing that I’m asking five Cabinet members to take special responsibility to explain the plan to the American public.
Working with my team here in the White House, these Cabinet members will represent me in dealing with Congress, engage the public in selling the plan, and help work out the details as we refine it and move forward.
These five members will be [Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg, [Energy Secretary] Jennifer Granholm, [Hud Secretary] Marcia Fudge, [Labor Secretary] Marty Walsh, and [Commerce Secretary] Gina Raimondo. And I think — I want to thank them in advance for the role they’re going to play with this added assignment I’m asking them to take on. And we’ll be discussing that today and among other things.
And one of those other things — our administration — is a commitment to Buy American, the plan we’re putting forward to make sure that when the government is spending taxpayers’ money, that they’re spending it on American-made goods of American corporations and American employees.
Today I’m directing every member of the Cabinet — I mean this sincerely — every one — to take a hard look at their agency’s spending and make sure it follows my Buy American standard, which we set out in January. I’m going to ask you all to report back to me at the next Cabinet meeting.
White House.gov. 04/01/2021.
And now we’ve got a lot of business to do, to get done. And I thank the press for being here, but I’ll talk to you all later.
Thank you.
As I mentioned President Biden did already deliver remarks on the March Jobs Report.
From the March Jobs Report:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 916,000 in March, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Job growth was widespread in March, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, public and private education, and construction.
The unemployment rate edged down to 6.0 percent in March. The rate is down considerably from its recent high in April 2020 but is 2.5 percentage points higher than its pre-pandemic level in February. The number of unemployed persons, at 9.7 million, continued to trend down in March but is 4.0
BLS.gov. 04/02/2021.
Asked how much credit he was taking for the jobs numbers he said, “I’m giving credit to the American People.”
REPORTER: How much credit are you taking for today's [jobs] numbers?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 2, 2021
BIDEN: I'm giving credit to the American people pic.twitter.com/czlsf1QBQu
White House Chair of the the Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse wrote a blog post discussing the jobs report. She said this report marks “one year since the first pandemic job losses.” The blog focuses on the differences between last years report and this years.
As many might recall early in the pandemic for months and months it seemed there was a misclassification noted in the jobs report, specially counting people as employed but not working, versus counting them as unemployed.
She writes: In March, the headline unemployment rate dropped to 6.0 percent, 2.5 percentage points above the rate in February 2020, before the pandemic sent many workers home and shuttered businesses and schools. Given the way the Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies and defines unemployed workers, the headline unemployment rate likely understates unemployment in a pandemic relative to a typical downturn. Since February 2020, almost 4 million workers have dropped out of the labor force. Accounting for labor force dropouts and misclassification issues related to BLS’s survey questions implies an unemployment rate around 9 percent. Unemployment rates also vary substantially across groups, based on either the official unemployment rate or an adjusted rate. Again, Black and Latino workers have been particularly hard hit, with the adjusted rates for both remaining in double digits.
In bullet point #3 she explains that our economy has 8.4 million fewer jobs than prior to the pandemic.
On the payroll side, there were 8.4 million fewer jobs in March than in February 2020. Job growth has accelerated the past few months, which has helped narrow the jobs gap and is putting our economy on track to regain the jobs lost in the pandemic.
White House.gov. 04/02/2021.
President Biden’s Twitter account has not tweeted so far for Friday.
The White House press briefing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. D.C., time, with special guest Labor Secretary Marty Walsh expected to attend.
Live Feed: The White House.
This is an Open Thread.
I wish everyone a blessed, safe, and health Easter. Have a great weekend.
