House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s job creation efforts are partially to blame for the sky-high inflation plaguing American consumers.
Pelosi claimed that the fact that this president produced millions of jobs was a contributing factor in the inflation in the United States during an appearance on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports on October 18. She did not, however, make clear which of Biden’s programs are to blame for the increase in job creation.
“Of course, we want to fight inflation. It’s a global issue. But some of the inflation in our country sprang from the fact that this president created nearly 10 million—at least 9 million jobs working with the private sector,” Pelosi said in response to a query regarding the cost-of-living squeeze affecting American households.
Alan Greenspan, a former head of the Federal Reserve, reportedly informed Pelosi that there is a connection between low unemployment and inflation at one point.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy created 263,000 new jobs in September, down from an upwardly revised 537,000 in August (BLS). In parallel, the jobless rate decreased from 3.7% in August to 3.5% in September.
Following the publication of the September jobs report, President Joe Biden celebrated by telling reporters at the White House on October 7 that 10 million new jobs had been generated since he entered office.
Although Biden did not mention any specific policies in those remarks that he felt were responsible for the claimed job growth, he did suggest in a speech in late September that the nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was passed at a time when the economy was experiencing its worst job performance since Herbert Hoover.
The American Rescue Plan’s spending, which included $1,400 stimulus cheques and additions to unemployment insurance, was widely acknowledged to have worsened inflation, but it is unclear by how much.
In a recent Fed research, a group of economists discovered that the rise in demand brought on by the stimulus was responsible for around 60% of U.S. inflation, with supply-side bottlenecks making it worse for the other 40%.
In an interview with CNBC in late September, Steven Rattner, who advised the Treasury Secretary under the Obama administration, claimed that excessive government and Federal Reserve stimulus is to blame for the sharp increase in inflation.
