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In article <rr7sla$1fo4$4@neodome.net>
governor.swill@gmail.com wrote:

...Biden is done, stick a fork in him.

Shades of Obama's economic incompetence. Flash forward to Joe
Biden in 2022. The stench of Obama is everywhere.

During a recent press briefing, White House Press Secretary
Karine Jean-Pierre played down the impact of President Joe
Biden’s policies on inflation.

Inflation has recently been at a 40-year high. Many economists
say the American Rescue Plan — the coronavirus relief package
that Biden, with only Democratic support in Congress, signed
into law shortly after taking office in 2021 — has contributed
to the rise in prices. Critics say putting more money in
Americans’ pockets when they didn’t need the assistance has been
a contributor to inflation, along with pandemic-related supply-
chain troubles and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, both of
which have disrupted flows of energy, food and other goods.

At a June 13 press briefing, Jean-Pierre played defense against
the notion that the American Rescue Plan had a role in worsening
inflation. The issue came up when a reporter asked about the
precipitous drop in the stock market that day; by the end of the
day, the benchmark Standard & Poors 500 had fallen by nearly 4%,
pushing stocks into bear market territory, which is defined as
the markets losing at least 20% of their value from recent highs.

"We know that the high prices are having a real effect on
people's lives," Jean-Pierre said. "We get that. And we are
incredibly focused on doing everything that we can to make sure
that the economy is working for the American people. But we are
coming out of the strongest job market in American history, and
that matters. And a lot of that is thanks to the American Rescue
Plan, which only Democrats voted for, and Republicans did not.
It led to this historic economic boom that we're seeing with
jobs."

The reporter followed up by asking, "Didn’t it also lead to
historic inflation?"

Jean-Pierre responded, "That is not how we're seeing the
American Rescue Plan. … We have to remember what the president
walked into. When he walked into this administration, the
economy was at a standstill. Schools were closed. Businesses
were shutting down. Twenty million people were on unemployment
insurance benefits. That is what he walked into."

A reader asked us whether Jean-Pierre was correct to say that
when Biden "walked into this administration … 20 million people
were on unemployment insurance benefits."

Jean-Pierre’s figure is way off.

To check what Jean-Pierre said, we looked at two federal
statistics.

The first is the number of unemployed Americans, estimated every
month from a federal survey of households. The unemployment
level did peak at about 23 million people in April 2020, right
when the economy was closing down due to the coronavirus. But
that was nine months before Biden took office — and the number
fell significantly before Biden was sworn in.

The number of unemployed Americans had fallen to about 10
million by the time Joe Biden was sworn in
Unemployment level by month. Red refers to months under
President Donald Trump. Blue refers to months under President
Joe Biden.
Chart

By January 2021, when Biden was being sworn in, the number of
unemployed Americans had fallen by more than half, to 10.2
million. So according to this metric, Jean-Pierre cited a figure
roughly double the actual number.

But there’s an even better metric to describe the number of
Americans who "were on unemployment insurance benefits." And
using this metric, Jean-Pierre is even further off base.

Like the unemployment level, the number of Americans collecting
continuing unemployment benefits peaked at 23.1 million in early
May 2020, only a few weeks into the pandemic’s initial burst.

But this figure fell even further than the unemployment level
did. (The difference stems from the fact that not everyone who
is unemployed qualifies for unemployment insurance.)

On the eve of Biden’s inauguration, the number of Americans
collecting continuing unemployment insurance was a little under
4.9 million. That was still higher than the typical level prior
to the pandemic — about 1.8 million — but less than a quarter of
the 20 million figure that Jean-Pierre cited.

Jean-Pierre argued that the economy was so terrible that the
American Rescue Plan was a must. But this glosses over the fact
that the worst economic hit from the coronavirus-driven
shutdowns occurred in the spring of 2020. Nine months later,
when Biden took office, the economy was rebounding.

The White House did not respond to an inquiry for this article.

Our ruling
Jean-Pierre said that when Biden "walked into this
administration … 20 million people were on unemployment
insurance benefits."

The number of unemployed Americans did crack 20 million early in
the pandemic, but Donald Trump was president at the time. By the
time Biden was sworn in and was seeking passage of the American
Rescue Plan, the number had fallen by about half, to 10 million.

An even more appropriate statistic for evaluating Jean-Pierre’s
statement — the number of Americans continuing to collect
unemployment insurance benefits — had fallen even further by the
time Biden took office, to less than 5 million, or just a
quarter of what Jean-Pierre had said.

We rate the statement False.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/jun/14/karine-jean- pierre/white-house-gets-it-wrong-unemployment-level-when-/

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