Biden credits progress on COVID-19 for May job gains

President Biden on Friday touted the latest jobs report, crediting progress on COVID-19 vaccinations in recent weeks.

“Vaccinations are up, jobs are up, wages are up, manufacturing is up, growth is up, people gaining health care coverage is up, and small business confidence is up. America is finally on the move again,” he said in a speech at the Rehoboth Beach, Del., convention center shortly after the Labor Department released employment figures for May.

The U.S. labor market added 559,000 jobs, up from a gain of 266,000 in April, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent, from 6.1 percent the previous month.

“No other major economy is gaining jobs as quickly as ours,” Biden said.

“It isn’t luck. It’s due in no small part to, first of all, the cooperation of the American people in responding to my effort to get COVID under control, wear masks initially and getting vaccinated,” he added.

The president also highlighted the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which has provided funding for vaccinations and other efforts to jump-start the economy.

Republicans, however, have said the rescue plan from March is holding back hiring and incentivizing millions of unemployed workers to stay on the sidelines. Biden’s COVID-19 relief law extends the $300-per-week boost to weekly unemployment benefits, which GOP lawmakers have said is discouraging people from returning to work.

Biden also spoke about his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, the two components of his sweeping infrastructure proposal. The president is slated to speak by phone Friday afternoon with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), the lead GOP negotiator on bipartisan infrastructure talks.

Biden did not respond to a question in Rehoboth about whether he’s expecting Capito to present a new GOP offer.