Good Morning DC. Is the May jobs report bad? No. Is it as good as Biden hoped for? No.
Good Morning DC! It’s Friday, and President Biden is still at the beach in Delaware. Yesterday, Biden and Jill went for a bike ride along the Gordons Pond Trail at Cape Henlopen State Park.
—”Did you enjoy your bike ride, Mr. President?”
— “Yes,” he responded.
The crowd of well-wishers sang Happy birthday to Jill Biden while the President ignored a shouted question on Dr. Fauci.
Today, President Biden will talk with Senator Capito for the second time this week, but prospects for striking an infrastructure deal do not seem any better than they were yesterday. The idea of swapping one tax increase with another does not sit well with the Republicans. “The 15% minimum tax was actually in the American jobs plan as one of the pay for components,” said Psaki. Press Secretary added that “Opposing this proposal would mean not only opposing raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans who’ve done extraordinarily well during the pandemic, but it would also mean opposing the very enforcement of the 2017 tax law.”
Today is the May jobs report day, and the President is expected to offer his thoughts at 10 AM ET on a monthly assessment of his economic policies. Did the $1.9 trillion relief bill help the American economy as Biden hoped for?
In terms of unemployment, the number of unemployed persons fell by 496,000 to 9.3 million. The overall unemployment rate declined by 0.3% to 5.8%.
A thing to consider is a drop in labor force participation, a data point that suggests that people are either still struggling to find a job or dropped out of the labor market altogether. The participation rate is 1.7 percentage points lower than in February 2020.
Employment rose by 559,000 in May ( following increases of 278,000 in April and 785,000 in March) but still short of the 675,000 projection.
Is the May jobs report bad? No. Is it as good as Biden hoped for? No.
Across the pond, Britain has the new travel rules. Portugal will move from green to amber list on June 8 at 4 AM. Afghanistan, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Trinidad and Tobago will move from amber to red list.
As Biden is getting ready for the historic UK visit, Good Morning DC has been told that due to Covid restrictions, the White House will only take a small pool of reporters on a trip with the president. Unlike all other years, the opportunities for on-the-ground reporting will be limited.
According to Ned Price, Spokesperson of the State Department “One million J&J vaccines are headed to our partners in the Republic of Korea.” He added that “With these doses, we’re ensuring the safety and readiness of ROK and U.S. forces. The friendship between our two countries runs deep, especially in times of great need.”
What will Jill Biden do today? At 12:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM GMT, First Lady Jill Biden will deliver prerecorded remarks at the graduation for Ramstein American High School, a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) School serving military families at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
And that’s a wrap for this Friday morning, June 4, 2021.Thanks for waking up with me. Good Morning DC will be back on Monday to bring you the latest first.
