January Jobs Report: Biden Fell Short Of Expectations. Again.

The Labor Department issued its January jobs report on Friday, revealing that the last month of the Biden presidency was another instance of the Biden administration falling short and that the revised monthly average for jobs in all of 2024 had been overstated.

One hundred forty-three thousand jobs were added in January, which fell short of economic forecasts for the month, The New York Times acknowledged, adding, “The revised monthly average for all of 2024 is 166,000 jobs, less than previously thought. With upward revisions to November and December, January looks like a step down.” Economists had set expectations of 175,000 new jobs in January, Forbes reported.

“Today’s jobs report reveals the Biden economy was far worse than anyone thought, and underscores the necessity of President Trump’s pro-growth policies,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in response to the report. “During his first weeks in office, President Trump declared a national energy emergency to Make America Energy Dominant Again, pledged to cut 10 regulations for every new regulatory action, and outlined a plan to deliver the largest tax cut in history for hardworking Americans. President Trump is delivering on his promise to restore our broken economy, revive small business optimism, create jobs, and ignite a new Golden Age for America.”

Biden presiding over the growth of inflation was a major factor in Donald Trump’s election to the presidency in November. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) noted in August 2023, one year after Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act was passed, that since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, the cost of groceries had soared roughly 20%, gas prices were up almost 62%, natural gas prices had risen more than 40%, and the Congressional Budget Office expected the launch prices of drugs to increase.

“To me, that is the lasting legacy and differentiator between the two administrations,” Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, stated. “Inflation was two-and-a-half times higher under President Biden than it was under President Trump. That essentially was the key catalyst for the return to Trump’s policy, which was one of very good growth and low and stable inflation.”