It’s Friday…
I wanna be this cool one day…
When Biden Bits was posted for Thursday, President Biden had tweeted 5 times and retweeted 1 time. He added 7 tweets giving him a Thursday Tweeting Total of 12 tweets and 1 retweet…
As mentioned in Biden Bits President Biden traveled to New York to attend a gun violence strategies partnership meeting. The YouTube is 58 minutes and 19 seconds long. His full remarks can found here. President Biden ends his remarks at the 15:45 second mark.
See the above YouTube…
President Biden: I’ll keep doing everything in my power to make sure that communities are safer. But Congress needs to do its part too: pass universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, close loopholes, and keep out of the hands of domestic abusers — weapons, repeal the liability shield for gun manufacturers.
President Biden: And every day in this country, 316 people are shot, 106 are killed. And six NYPD officers have been victims of gun violence so far, just this year — the same in the town north of me, Philadelphia; and my much smaller town of Wilmington, Delaware; and Washington, D.C.
This is, I believe the first time; I actually shared something in full yesterday before President Biden posted his tweet…
The link shared above was posted on February 1st, 2022; I’m gonna share it in full.
As Kentucky begins its observance of Black History Month, Gov. Andy Beshear announced today that the U.S. Department of Defense approved a posthumous honorary promotion to the grade of brigadier general for Col. Charles Young.
In February 2020, Gov. Beshear posthumously promoted Col. Young to the honorary rank of brigadier general in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Last February, the Governor sent a letter to President Joe Biden encouraging him likewise to promote Young in the U.S. Army.
In a letter dated Nov. 1, 2021, Under Secretary of Defense Gilbert Cisneros Jr. informed the chairs of the U.S. House and Senate Armed Services committees of his decision to approve the request, and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth informed Charles Young’s family of the promotion on Jan. 19, 2022.
While Gov. Beshear’s promotion of Young to brigadier general is recognized only in the commonwealth, the promotion by the Army provides national recognition of service by some of the earliest Black officers in our nation’s armed forces.
Charles Young was born in Mays Lick, Kentucky, to enslaved parents in 1864. He valued education throughout his life and graduated with honors from high school in Ohio, where his parents escaped slavery.
Young taught elementary school and eventually entered the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, where he was its third Black graduate. He went on to become the first Black military attaché to a foreign country and served in various assignments from Haiti and Liberia to Mexico and Nigeria. When he was medically discharged from active duty, Col. Young was the highest-ranking Black officer in the military, having been promoted to colonel.
Following his death, Col. Young was given full military honors and burial in Arlington National Cemetery, a reminder to Americans of his legacy as a leader, his perseverance despite obstacles and his heroic example to others.
The Army is tentatively planning a promotion ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy in April.
Kentucky.gov. 02/01/2022.
You can learn more about the life of Charles Young on the National Park Service website.
Governor Beshear is quoted as saying; Charles Young was a pioneer, especially in his military career, but also throughout his life. I was honored to promote Col. Young to brigadier general in the commonwealth two years ago, and I am pleased to announce that that honor has now been extended to the entire U.S. Army.
From the link shared about Charles Young’s life, I found some multimedia presentations. These are not YouTube videos which is why they are not embedded here.
Today, Friday the 4th of February, President Biden has received his daily brief. This morning, President Biden will offer remarks on January’s Jobs Report. This afternoon, President Biden will sign an Executive Order on; Project Labor Agreements, which will improve timeliness, lower costs and increase quality in federal construction projects. Prior to the signing of the EO, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, will offer remarks. This evening President Biden will travel to his home in Delaware.
Fact-sheet on the Executive Order to Boost Quality of Federal Construction Projects
Biden-Harris Administration will make federal procurement more economical and efficient by improving coordination and minimizing disruptions on large federal construction projects
Tomorrow, the President will sign an Executive Order to improve timeliness, lower costs and increase quality in federal construction projects. Federal construction projects span the country – from the maintenance of nuclear sites to base construction to waterways and flood projects. By requiring the use of project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects above $35 million, the Order will help alleviate the management and coordination challenges that can stymie progress on major construction projects. This helps projects get completed on time and helps the government get the best value for taxpayers’ dollars.
Based on FY2021 figures, this Order could affect $262 billion in federal government construction contracting and improve job quality for the nearly 200,000 workers on federal construction contracts. Additionally, the President’s Executive Order directs the departments of Defense and Labor, along with the Office of Management Budget, to lead a training strategy for the nearly 40,000-person strong contracting workforce on the implementation of this Order’s policy.
This Executive Order is just one of many steps the Biden-Harris Administration is taking that will improve the efficiency of federal procurement. Since taking office, the President fulfilled his commitments to strengthen Buy American rules, and secured a reliable supply of experienced, quality workers for federal service contracts. As of January 30th, federal contractors in new or extended contracts must pay a $15/hour minimum wage, as the President directed in Executive Order 14026.
This new Executive Order, while only applicable to federal procurement, advances the Administration’s commitment to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, on-time and at reasonable cost. The Order will only apply to provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that are direct federal procurement, which excludes construction projects financed through grant dollars to non-federal entities. The Executive Order will benefit taxpayers, contractors, and workers by:
White House.gov. 02/03/2022.
- Alleviating the coordination challenges on large, complex projects. Multi-million-dollar projects can present real management challenges to the primary contractor on the project, which has to work with multiple businesses and multiple types of skilled labor to complete a project. PLAs can help coordinate diverse contractors and sub-contractors and their employees working on a project and prevent disputes between subcontractors. Additionally, workers will have more confidence in the management of the project and a greater commitment to completing the project if they have a voice at the table. This helps projects get completed on time by minimizing work disruptions. On-time projects save the government, and taxpayers, money.
- Raising quality standards for contractors bidding on federal projects. PLAs help raise the standards of all bidders on federal contracts. Contractors who offer lower wages or do not train their workers will need to raise their standards to compete with other high-wage, high-quality companies. Businesses with well-trained workers will be more likely to bid for and win federal contracts. Well-trained, high quality workers are more productive, completing projects well and on time.
- Reducing uncertainty in the contracting process. PLAs standardize the work rules, compensation costs, and dispute settlement processes on construction projects. This standardization helps create more certainty for the government and, therefore, taxpayers, about the costs and completion rate for projects.
- Increasing training for the federal contracting workforce. The Executive Order directs the Departments of Defense and Labor, along with the Office of Management and Budget, to lead a training strategy for the contracting workforce on Project Labor Agreements and the implementation of this Order. This training will create a more uniform and accessible experience for contractors interacting with departments and agencies across the federal government.
President Biden has tweeted 3 times so far for Friday…
The Jobs Report:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 467,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment growth continued in leisure and hospitality, in professional and business services, in retail trade, and in transportation and warehousing.
As I explained a few times in January, changes came to January’s Jobs Report…
Page 5 says:
In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data released today have been benchmarked to reflect comprehensive counts of payroll jobs for March 2021. These counts are derived
principally from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), which counts jobs covered by the Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax system. The benchmark process results in revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2020 forward. Seasonally adjusted data from January 2017 forward are subject to revision. In addition, data for some series prior to 2017, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, incorporate other revisions.The total nonfarm employment level for March 2021 was revised upward by 374,000. On a not seasonally adjusted basis, total nonfarm employment for March 2021 was revised downward by 7,000, or less than -0.05 percent. Not seasonally adjusted, the absolute average benchmark revision over the past 10 years is 0.1 percent.
As part of the benchmark process, the seasonal adjustment models are also updated. These models remove normal seasonal fluctuations—such as regular employment changes due to major holidays—from the data series, making it easier to observe cyclical and other economic trends. Now that there are more monthly observations related to the historically large job losses and gains seen in the pandemic-driven recession and recovery, the models can better distinguish normal seasonal movements from underlying trends. As a result, some large revisions to seasonally adjusted data occurred with the updated models; however, these monthly changes mostly offset each other. For example, the over-the month employment change for November and December 2021 combined is 709,000 higher than previously reported, while the over-the-month employment change for June and July 2021 combined is 807,000 lower. Overall, the 2021 over-the-year change is 217,000 higher than previously reported. Going forward, the updated models should produce more reliable estimates of seasonal movements. Table A presents revised total nonfarm employment data on a seasonally adjusted basis from January to December 2021.
All revised historical establishment survey data are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/ces/data/home.htm. In addition, an article that discusses the benchmark and postbenchmark revisions and other technical issues is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm .
BLS.gov. 02/04/2022. (PDF pg. 5)
Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey…
Effective with data for January 2022, updated population estimates were incorporated into the household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates the estimates to reflect new information and assumptions about the growth of the population since the previous decennial census. The change in population reflected in the new estimates results from the introduction of a blended 2020 population base, which combines population totals from the 2020 Census and demographic characteristics from other sources. It also reflects adjustments for net international migration, updated vital statistics, and estimation methodology improvements. The vast majority of the population change, however, is due to the change in the base population from Census 2010 to the blended Census 2020 base.
In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise the official household survey estimates for December 2021 and earlier months. To show the impact of the population adjustments, however, differences in selected December 2021 labor force series based on the old and new population estimates are shown in table B.
The adjustments increased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population in December by 973,000, the civilian labor force by 1,530,000, employment by 1,471,000, and unemployment by 59,000. The number of persons not in the labor force decreased by 557,000. Although the total unemployment rate was unaffected, the employment-population ratio and labor force participation rate were each increased by 0.3 percentage point. This was mostly due to an increase in the size of the population in age groups that participate in the labor force at high rates (those ages 35 to 64) and a large decrease in the size of the population age 65 and older, which participates at a low rate.
Data users are cautioned that these annual population adjustments can affect the comparability of household data series over time. Table C shows the effect of the introduction of new population estimates on the comparison of selected labor force measures between December 2021 and January Additional information on the population adjustments and their effect on national labor force estimates is available at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cps-pop-control-adjustments.pdf.
BLS.gov. 02/04/2022. (PDF pg. 6)
At page 8 of the PDF they summarize the tables…
This made me LOL…
And since it’s my least favorite Friday; I’m gonna share…
President Biden’s remarks on January’s Jobs Report are expected at 10:45 a.m. D.C., time.
The daily press briefing is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. D.C., time.
President Biden’s signing EO ceremony is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. D.C., time.
All the above times have now been pushed back since President Biden’s Jobs Report remarks are late…
This is an Open Thread.
