(NewsNation) — The Biden administration is doing its due diligence to defend its handling of the economy, despite high inflation and gas prices, citing a robust jobs market and low unemployment as signals of strength.
White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said on NewsNation’s “Rush Hour” that the White House was trying to present a “balanced” view of the economy, amid the heavy criticism coming from Republicans over inflation.
“What you’re seeing in the jobs market is quite historic,” Sperling said. “The ‘r-word’ right now is ‘resilience.’ We’ve had 3.1 million jobs created in the first seven months of this year. Other than last year, that is the most jobs created in the first seven months of a year in the history of our country.”
Sperling argued the July jobs report, which showed the United States added 528,000 jobs, proves the private sector is expanding.
“No economy is perfect but this one is showing resilience and the fact that so many people are working, that unemployment is low across the board for virtually every sector and group in our economy gives us a lot of hope we can make this transition to more stable growth with lower prices,” Sperling said.
Sperling lamented that prices at grocery stores remain high, but claimed victory for the Biden administration that gas prices have fallen nearly $1 per gallon since reaching highs of $5 per gallon nationwide in June.
“We’re trying to present a balanced view of this economy, it’s clearly one that is still showing tremendous strength in labor market and job creation,” Sperling said. “But it is one where the prices are too high in the grocery store. It’s definitely a gut punch to many people and it’s why the president is so focused on everything he can do to relieve that pocketbook anxiety.”