Why is it so hard to sell booming jobs?

Jun 07, 2024

By Lauren Egan, Eli Stokols and Ben Johansen

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The May jobs report this morning underscored the paradox that is the economy in the Biden era.

The topline data showed job growth, rising wages and low unemployment. All good! But at the same time, the strong report dampened hopes from some Democrats that the Federal Reserve could soon lower interest rates and deliver a boost to JOE BIDEN's reelection bid. Not so great for the president.

Most Democrats believe the issue confronting Biden on the economy is one of perception, not actual metrics — as our ADAM CANCRYN gets at today. It’s also a dynamic that Acting Labor Secretary JULIE SU discussed in an interview with West Wing Playbook. Su, who is hitting the road for the administration’s “Good Jobs Summer” tour, talked about why voters might be more lukewarm to a hot economy and what the Biden administration can do about it. The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.

Was there anything in the May report that surprised you?

I think the story now is those who bet against the recovery — those who said it was going to be too hot or it was going to crash — we’ve demonstrated that this is about as soft a landing as you would ever want. This is very close to what the president predicted and wanted to see happen a year ago.

Talk to me about the perception versus reality problem the Biden administration is facing. The data shows a strong economy, but polls indicate that voters don’t feel that way.

All of us have been through a lot. The global pandemic pulled the rug out from under people. In January 2021, when the president came into office, it’s important to remember that Covid was raging. There was no national strategy to address it. Unemployment was extremely high and people were worried about whether they could get toilet paper when they needed it.

We’ve moved dramatically away from that. But it’s important to remember that it was not that long ago that there was so much insecurity.

So it’s a Covid hangover and a lingering fear that things could change overnight?

Yes, I think it’s that trauma and it’s the economic impact of that. This recovery — people still talk about ‘how is this possible?’ Our job is to continue to exercise our responsibility to deliver on this vision that the president has had. The more we do that, the more I think people will keep feeling it.

Are there specific messages that you plan to lean into in the coming months?

The president has been very clear that he is the most pro-worker, pro-union president this country has ever had. Continuing to listen to workers, and to invest in workers and [to say] ‘we’ve got your back’ is very important.

I talk about how we are trying to create the high road to the American Dream, making sure that everybody has real opportunity. We have to make sure that the investments the president has gotten across the finish line are really making a difference in communities.

Do you see the UAW win in Chattanooga as a sign of labor resurgence in the South and the potential to reshape the political landscape?

I see it as workers wanting better working conditions, better lives and a voice in their workplace, and being willing to take some risks to get it. But I also see it as the positive effects of union contracts. I talked about how there’s the wage bump, not just for union workers, but for non-union workers.

President Biden announced a new plan this week to shut down the border when illegal border crossings pass a certain number. Could that have an impact on the U.S. labor market?

No, I don't think it will impact the kind of growth that we’ve seen or the strengths of our labor market overall.

Immigrant workers have been a part of the economic growth that we’re seeing. And what is so important to note here is that under President Biden, we’re not talking about a shrinking pie that has to be divided into smaller and smaller pieces for more people. We are seeing a growth in the overall pie.

You are still in an “acting” role. Does that impact your ability to carry out certain parts of the job?

I’m just extremely proud to get to serve this president in this moment.

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A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:

President Biden: American chemistry is the backbone of innovation.
It's time to address the regulatory overload stifling American chemistry. Chemistry powers our semiconductors, medical devices, and clean energy initiatives. But your administration’s avalanche of regulations is hampering America’s progress and competitiveness. American chemistry is more than an industry; it's our future. The Biden Administration must commit to smarter, growth-oriented regulations before it’s too late - because when chemistry is enabled to create, America competes.

POTUS PUZZLER

Which president created the White House orangery?

(Answer at bottom.)

Photo of the Week

President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the legacy of Pointe du Hoc, and democracy around the world, Friday, June 7, 2024 as he stands next to the Pointe du Hoc monument in Normandy, France.

President Joe Biden delivers a speech on the legacy of Pointe du Hoc, and democracy around the world, Friday, June 7, 2024 as he stands next to the Pointe du Hoc monument in Normandy, France. | AP/Evan Vucci

The Oval

WAKE UP: President Biden was back in Normandy today, where he delivered a forceful defense of democracy at Pointe-du-Hoc — the 150-foot cliff that 225 U.S. Army rangers scaled 80 years ago, Eli and ERIC BAZAIL-EIMIL report. After a dramatic fly-in on Air Force One above the audience of around 150 people, Biden took a different approach from his Thursday speech, speaking squarely to an American audience. “Democracy begins with each of us, begins when one person decides there’s something more important than themselves,” Biden said, just steps from the site’s granite memorial.

He did not mention DONALD TRUMP by name, but his speech was meant to draw a concrete contrast between the two. And if that wasn’t apparent, the Biden campaign subsequently put out an ad eviscerating the former president by placing his past comments disparaging service members against the images of Normandy, Lauren reports.

PICK IT UP: President Biden’s promise to stick with Ukraine to the end of its war with Russia isn’t enough for Kyiv, which is pushing the U.S. and other allies to do more to help actually turn the war in Ukraine’s favor, our MATT BERG and Eli report. On Friday, Biden and Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY met at a hotel in Paris, where Biden offered his reassurance to the Ukrainian leader that the U.S. is in the fight until the end.

Zelenskyy thanked the president for the comments, but added that there was more to discuss in private about the state of play on the ground. “There are some details on the battlefield you need to hear from us,” Zelenskyy said. Their private meeting lasted 30 minutes. Despite scoring some big wins during the France trip — including a $225 million package from the U.S. — Ukrainian lawmakers and those close to Zelenskyy’s office are skeptical that their allies will be able to provide rapid assistance in the future.

And some Kyiv officials aren’t buying Biden’s rhetoric. “His D-Day speech doesn’t matter,” said a person who has spoken with officials in Zelenskyy’s office.

CLOCK’S TICKING: President Biden is running out of tools — and time — to convince the majority of Americans that the economy is booming, Cancryn reports. As mentioned above, today’s job market report is the latest sign of a sustained economic upswing. But it’s unlikely to fix a gloomy outlook stemming from rising prices, the cost of housing and high interest rates. The White House has most recently honed in on a campaign to pressure companies to slash prices, coupled with high-volume attacks on corporate greed.

Still, many people within the administration fear there’s little they can do to change voters’ perceptions of the economy. “If half of the people think that unemployment is at a 50-year high when it’s actually close to a 50-year low, this is a problem of misinformation, it’s a problem of perception,” said BEN HARRIS, a former senior Treasury Department official who helped craft Biden’s economic agenda.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by WaPo’s JEFF STEIN and JACOB BOGAGE, who report that if elected this November, Donald Trump is vowing to pull away spending powers from Congress and assert more control over the federal budget than any president in U.S. history. Trump and his aides maintain that the president — if it's him in the Oval — should have much more discretion, including the authority to cease programs altogether, even if lawmakers fund them.

Campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA shared the story on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by The Atlantic’s MARK LEIBOVICH titled “Ruth Bader Biden” arguing that no matter what obstacles Donald Trump presents for himself, the “bad vibes” from the Biden campaign won’t go away. “Biden remains a comprehensively weak incumbent, weighed down by the same liabilities that burdened him from the start, beginning with the largest, and completely unfixable, one: At 81, he is much too old to run for president,” Leibovich writes. He goes on to make the comparison between Biden and the late liberal Supreme Court justice RUTH BADER GINSBURG, who was unwilling to retire during BARACK OBAMA’s presidency — ultimately leading to Trump appointing AMY CONEY BARRETT to the court.

If Biden loses in November, Leibovich argues that his insistence on running will be all he’s remembered for.

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CAMPAIGN HQ

GREEN GROUP DROPS SOME GREEN: The League of Conservation Voters is launching a $2.6 million ad buy to tout Biden’s Arctic anti-drilling efforts, Axios’ BEN GEMAN reports. The 30-second spots were put out today in four swing states — Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — targeting younger audiences. They are airing as non-skippable ads on YouTube, as well as on Hulu and Amazon Prime. In one ad called “Natural Wonders,” the narrator says “oil and gas drilling would devastate this fragile habitat and its wildlife,” thanking Biden for “historic protection.”

A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:

Agenda Setting

PIER RENEWED: The U.S. Central Command announced Friday that its temporary pier off the coast of Gaza was repaired and reattached to the beach this morning, AP’s LOLITA C. BALDOR and TARA COPP report. A U.S. Defense official said the pier — designed to deliver badly needed aid to people in Gaza — is expected to be ramped up soon with a goal of distributing 1 million pounds of food and other aid supplies into Gaza every two days.

EH, A LITTLE GAS GUZZLING IS FINE: The Biden administration on Friday pulled back its proposal for a steep rise in fuel economy requirements for SUVs and pickup trucks, our ALEX GUILLÉN reports. The new Department of Transportation rule still calls for passenger vehicles to get more miles from each gallon of gasoline — but the improvements for the industry’s popular gas-guzzlers will be significantly less than the department had proposed a year ago.

What We're Reading

Reagan at Pointe du Hoc, 40 Years Later (WSJ’s Peggy Noonan)

Fighting Trump on the Beaches (The New Yorker’s Susan B. Glasser)

The Hunter Biden Case Is Solid. There's Something Rotten About It Too (POLITICO's Ankush Khardori)

A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:

Did you know that it takes 500 highly specialized chemicals to manufacture one semiconductor chip? And the Biden Administration is investing billions to build semiconductor plants in the U.S.

There’s just one big problem: the president’s administration keeps rolling out regulations and restrictions that could impair chemical manufacturers’ ability to produce the very inputs needed to achieve this expansion.

“You can build all the semiconductor plants you want, but if critical chemistries aren’t available, you won’t be successful in onshoring the chip manufacturing supply chain. This is an issue of national security.” – Chris Jahn, President and CEO, American Chemistry Council

Call on the Biden Administration to stop undercutting American innovation and national priorities.

Learn more at chemistrycreates.org

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

President ANDREW JACKSON created the White House orangery, an early type of greenhouse where tropical fruit trees and flowers can be grown, according to the White House Historical Association.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Sam Stein and Emily Cadei.

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