President Joe Biden bragged Friday that the United States has the “strongest economy in the world,” while a majority of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck.
The president touted the economy in a Friday address about the August jobs report, which showed the U.S. added 187,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, and the unemployment rate rose to 3.8% over the past month. While Biden celebrated the August jobs report, about 61% of Americans, high and low-income alike, are living paycheck-to-paycheck, according to July research from LendingClub, a financial services company. (RELATED: ‘Left With Fewer Jobs Than When He Entered’: Biden Takes Shot At Trump Economy Without Mentioning COVID)
“It wasn’t that long ago that 20 million Americans were out of work,” Biden said. “But the American people didn’t give up. They never give up. They’ve never given up. And today we have the strongest economy in the world. The lowest inflation rate among the major economies. 13.5 million new jobs. You’ve heard me say it before, and I am going to keep saying it, my dad said a job is about a lot more than the paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say ‘honey it is going to be okay’ and mean it.”
Nearly eight in 10 consumers who make less than $50,000 a year are unable to pay for their future bills until they receive their next paycheck, according to LendingClub’s research. About 4 in 10 Americans who are earning more than $100,000 are facing similar struggles.
Economists anticipated the country would add 170,000 jobs in August after 187,000 jobs had been added in July, Reuters reported. The healthcare sector added 71,000 and the hospitality sector added 40,000 jobs for the month, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Inflation stayed high in July, increasing by 3.2% for 2023, and up from 3.0% in June. Inflation was a high 9.1% in July 2022.