On The Money — Labor market flashes strength ahead of jobs report

by Sylvan Lane,Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom - 03/30/22 6:12 PM ET

Happy Wednesday and welcome to On The Money, your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line. Subscribe here.

Today’s Big Deal: Two new batches of data show just how well the labor market has held up amid rising inflation and the economic fallout of the war in Ukraine. We’ll also look at progress toward revoking normal trade relations with Russia and President Biden’s effort to boost antitrust enforcement.

But first, find out which Republican senator is supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

For The Hill, we’re Sylvan Lane, Aris Folley and Karl Evers-Hillstrom. Reach us at slane@digital-stage.thehill.com, afolley@digital-stage.thehill.com and kevers@digital-stage.thehill.com.

Let’s get to it.

March private-sector jobs increased by 455K: ADP

The private sector gained 455,000 jobs between February and March, according to a March ADP National Employment report.

Most of the jobs, about 377,000, were in service-providing fields like transportation, business services, financial activities, education and hospitality.

Goods-producing jobs accounted for roughly 79,000 jobs in areas like manufacturing and construction, according to ADP.

The ADP report comes two days before the release of the federal jobs report, which also includes public sector jobs. Economists expect the U.S. to have gained roughly 490,000 jobs in March, a solid haul if notably less than the 678,000 added in February.

Demand for workers remained strong in February as the U.S. economy faced growing headwinds from Europe, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday. While it remains to be seen if it waned in March, economists saw the strength of the labor market in February as a strong sign heading into last month’s jobs report.

Employers had 11.3 million open jobs listed on the final business day for the second consecutive month since openings set a record at 11.4 million in December.
Hires rose to 6.7 million in February, a gain of 200,000 from January, while separations stayed even at 6.1 million.
Layoffs held even at 1.4 million and the quits rate — the percentage of U.S. employees who voluntarily left their jobs — ticked slightly higher to 2.9 percent, a record first set in December.

Sylvan has more here.

CAPPING COSTS

House to vote Thursday on bill to cap cost of insulin

The House is expected to vote Thursday on legislation aimed at capping the price of insulin, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced.

Hoyer told reporters on Wednesday that it’s “inexcusable” people are being charged exorbitant prices for “a life-saving and life-sustaining drug whose costs [have] not increased and whose research costs have been amortized a very long period of time ago.”

The bill would cap consumers’ out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month, the same proposal included in Democrats’ Build Back Better package that passed the House in November but remains stalled due to opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
Democrats are now turning to more narrow measures that have the potential to pass both chambers.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H) said Tuesday that she has an “agreement in principle” with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on legislation to drive down insulin costs.

It’s not yet clear if the House bill will gain bipartisan support on Thursday. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told The Hill on Tuesday that he is opposed to what he described as “government price fixing.”

The Hill’s Christina Marcos has more here.

RAND-STANDING

Rand Paul cuts deal on Russia trade bill

Senators have cut a deal with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) aimed at breaking the logjam over legislation to limit trade with Russia.

The agreement — confirmed by Paul and Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican — would clarify what qualifies as a “serious” violation of human rights in a U.S. law governing trade with Russia named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Ukrainian-born Russia who died in police custody more than a decade ago in Moscow.

“They will include specific language defining what human rights abuses are and that we don’t have the problem of having language that can be misinterpreted,” Paul said.

The language in a bill approved by the House and now under consideration by the Senate would expand that to target “serious” human rights violations, codifying language used in a Trump-era executive order.
As part of the deal with Paul, senators agreed to keep the “serious” violation phrasing but provided a definition for what would qualify.

The Hill’s Jordain Carney has more here.

BUDGET BOOST

Biden administration boosts support for antitrust efforts

The Biden administration is throwing its weight behind efforts to boost antitrust enforcement as federal agencies take on the market power of tech giants.

President Biden’s $5.8 trillion budget proposal requests $227 million in increased funding for the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice combined — a bump advocates and agency leaders say is needed to tackle cases against the nation’s wealthiest companies.

In addition to the request for increased funding, the DOJ sent letters to top lawmakers on the House and Senate Judiciary committees endorsing a key antitrust bill, a move that some advocates said could sway lawmakers who are hesitant to back the seemingly stalled legislation.

Advocates say that the boost in funding would put the administration on a more equal playing field with big corporations.
The request comes as the FTC reviews Microsoft’s purchase of gaming publisher Activision Blizzard for $70 billion and agencies work on antitrust cases against Google and Facebook.

The Hill’s Rebecca Klar has more here.

Good to Know

President Biden is set to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) as early as this week to step up production of minerals used in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries, a source familiar with the plans confirmed to The Hill.

Biden is set to issue a presidential determination to stoke domestic production of the minerals, which are used for both stationary batteries and vehicles. The person emphasized that the production will not bypass existing permitting or environmental review processes.

Here’s what else we have our eye on:

Contracted airport workers are protesting in 20 U.S. cities to demand higher wages on Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced.
Facebook hired a Republican consulting firm to run a campaign aimed at turning public sentiment against TikTok, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
A new report by the American Lung Association found switching the transportation sector to zero-emission vehicles could yield over $1.2 trillion in health benefits.
A new law requiring critical sectors to report cyber breaches is “a good first step” but long overdue, experts said, as it is the first federal-wide mandate of its kind.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading and check out The Hill’s Finance page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.