Job growth across the US slowed last Month in a sign the labor market may be Cooling this spring the labor department Says employers added 175,000 jobs in April that's the Smallest monthly job creation reported Since October of last year unemployment Increased marginally to 3.9% it has hovered above 3 and a half% Since last summer but remains under 4% Jared Bernstein is at the White House he Is the chair of the US Council of Economic advisors and joins us now Jared Thanks very much for being with us so I Want to ask you about a recent CBS News Poll that shows more voters from Michigan Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Believe the economy was better under Donald Trump than it is now why do you Think that Is well I think that people have been a Lot uh through a lot since the uh uh Pandemic and uh you certainly saw President Biden take office and make Sure that things really turned around Pretty quickly uh obviously vaccines got Out there much more efficiently and one Of the things you saw under this President was the job market really take Off and uh if you look at where we are In terms of today's job market and I Mean today based on today's report uh It's a lot different than where we were Four years ago uh 15.4 million jobs on
This president's watch an unemployment Rate like your graphic just showed below 4% for 27 months in a row that is a Record we haven't seen that for 70 years Um we see now wages beating prices That's really important for Working Families uh wages are outpacing Inflation now we have more work to do When it comes to cutting costs but if You actually ask people what they think About the job market if you pull them on That pulls very very high very solid uh Numbers uh so why do you think the President isn't getting more credit when You ask voters um in these kinds of Polls about how he's doing on the Economy I think there are a couple Reasons for that I mean one of them is That if you actually ask people about This president's agenda in a more Granular way which is actually kind of Useful because it doesn't invoke some of The partisanship that I think these Polls get is you uh you get you get Numbers that are 80% or north of there There in you know the president just was Out this week talking about replacing Lead pipes as you would imagine that Pulls uh way over 80% ask people about His manufacturing agenda standing up Domestic IND Industries here uh uh Semiconductors if you actually ask folks About the specifics of the inflation Reduction act the infrastructure act the
Chips act in particular semiconductor uh Uh plants going up across the country These things pull north of 80% and then Secondly look prices are too high the President says that every time he talks About it and that's why he is working Aggressively to cut costs on Prescription drugs to cut costs for Health care proposal is to lower the Cost of housing to build 2 million homes And to cut the cost of child care now if You look at the ideas from the other Side of the aisle they want to reverse Every one of those policies and make it Easier uh for folks to EV for the Wealthiest people and their corporations To evade paying taxes so that's a higher Cost agenda we're trying to push a lower Cost agenda well inflation does remain a Big concern for many Americans so what Is the president doing to alleviate that When might Americans see some relief From high Prices well of course inflation is down 60% from its peak uh and we have to Continue uh our work to move it down Even further I think groceries are an Area that are particularly sensitive and Grocery inflation has been zero for the Past two months so we've made progress There I think where you see the President directly trying to uh lower Cost and having some success Prescription drugs the cost of insulin
The cost of Health Care coverage In every case uh this president has Implemented plans that have lowered Those costs by the way in every case Republicans uh want to reverse uh that Progress so that's very problematic if You take away uh the inflation reduction Act which lowered the cost of Prescription drugs that cost is going to Go up now he also has uh very robust Proposals one to build 2 million Affordable homes and of course we need To work with Congress to make that Happen so we're aggressively trying to Build on the progress of lower inflation And even lower costs but in terms of a Time frame Jared people try to look Ahead and plan for their Futures and Budget for things like groceries and Those tangible sort of everyday Goods What should they be looking at if there Is any kind of potential uh time frame In mind if the president is reelected How long would it take for prices to Come down well again I think one of the Things we can look at is uh numbers like The uh those in the jobs report today I Mean one one of the things we saw in This job report rep is that if you look At the uh share of women working in the Workforce the employment rate uh that's The highest it's ever been with data Back to 1948 that is an historical Record uh we've talked about the the
Record on the low unemployment I think We we also need to reference the fact That wages have been outpacing prices Real wage gains uh for about 13 months In a row on a year-over-year basis so Paychecks are going further and then I Think to get right to the heart of your Question I think you have to you have to Ask who is fighting for whom I mean this Is a president who is consistently Fighting to cut taxes on the middle Class and to ensure that the wealthy and The corporations pay their fair share Aggressively going after junk fees Whether it's credit card fees Airline Fees uh in entertainment he's having you Know real making real progress in Cutting those junk fees and of course Again on prescription drugs on Health Care uh on the cost of insulin these are Measures that are in effect actively low Lower costs uh that the other side wants To reverse so who's fighting for whom Becomes a very important question in This space we will see what the voters Assessment of that is Jared Bernstein Chair of the US Council of economic Advisors Jared thanks very much for your Time you're welcome
