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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
Even as the White House continues to push President Joe Biden’s economic policies as successful, reality continues to provide a painful check on the administration’s narrative.
The latest evidence comes amid a new Labor Department report noting that job growth in October was off significantly, missing forecasters’ predictions as the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.9 percent, CNBC reported.
“Nonfarm payrolls increased by 150,000 for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, against the Dow Jones consensus forecast for a rise of 170,000. The United Auto Workers strikes were primarily responsible for the gap as the impasse meant a net loss of jobs for the manufacturing industry,” the outlet noted.
The report added:
The unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, the highest level since January 2022, against expectations that it would hold steady at 3.8%. Employment as measured in the household survey, which is used to compute the unemployment rate, showed a decline of 348,000 workers, while the rolls of the unemployed rose by 146,000.
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A more encompassing jobless rate that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time positions for economic reasons rose to 7.2%, an increase of 0.2 percentage point. The labor force participation rate declined slightly to 62.7%, while the labor force contracted by 201,000.
“Winter cooling is hitting the labor market,” Becky Frankiewicz, chief commercial officer at staffing firm ManpowerGroup, said, according to CNBC. “The post-pandemic hiring frenzy and summer hiring warmth has cooled and companies are now holding onto employees.”
“After years of incredible strength, the labor market could finally be slowing. The topline miss, plus downward revisions and higher unemployment, deliver a strong message to (Chair) Jerome Powell and the Fed,” added David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. “Further tightening is now highly unlikely, and rate cuts could be back on the table next year.”
The economy under “Bidenomics” is the number one concern for voters in nearly every new poll, which is horrible news for Biden heading into next year’s reelection.
In fact, a report from the U.S. Agriculture Department late last month showed that the number of Americans dealing with hunger and food insecurity grew by 10 million during the Biden presidency, Just The News reported.
“From 2021 to 2022, there were statistically significant increases in food insecurity and very low food security for nearly all subgroups of households described in this report,” the report said.
“In 2022, the typical food-secure household spent 15 percent more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition,” it said.
Even President Biden’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that the report was alarming.
“These findings are unacceptable, yet the report is the latest piece of evidence that as the pandemic began to wane in 2022, another public health concern — food insecurity— increased,” he said.
The report came weeks after the Census Bureau reported that poverty had its swiftest rise in more than half a century during President Biden’s time in the White House.
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Biden’s approval rating has been falling for months now, and it took yet another hit — among Democrat voters, no less — over his support for Israel following a brutal, deadly surprise attack on the Jewish state by the Hamas terrorist organization earlier this month.
According to Axios, citing a new Gallup survey, Biden’s approval rating fell 11 points in a single month among Democrats, falling to a record low of 75 percent, and that is largely due to his support for Israel.
“Biden is at risk of alienating members of his own party with his unequivocal support for Israel, which has carried out a weeks-long bombardment and total siege of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks,” Axios reported.
