WATCH: Biden says he's leaving economy 'stronger than ever' for Americans as his term nears end
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President Joe Biden lauded his administration’s record on the economy after the labor department reported Friday a surge in job growth and decline in unemployment last month.

Summary

President Joe Biden highlighted his administration’s economic record, citing consistent job growth and a 2.7% inflation rate drop from its 2022 peak.

December’s jobs report showed 256,000 new jobs and declining unemployment, signaling steady economic growth.

However, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, and interest rates remain high, impacting homebuyers and businesses.

Public pessimism lingers on affordability as Biden passes a largely strong economy to his successor, Donald Trump.

  • brlemworld@lemmy.world
    101·
    3 days ago

    Average savings rate, average credit card debt, number of homeowners, college enrollment rates, average net worth. Lots of measures that the news and politicians ignore.

    • futatorius@lemm.ee
      1·
      5 hours ago

      Some of the measures you cite are irrelevant to quality of life. For example, there’s only a weak correlation between rates of home ownership and overall quality-of-life metrics. For example, Switzerland scores high on quality of life measures but has quite a low home-ownership rate. The converse also applies. And savings rate can be driven by fear of post-requirement income insecurity, and average credit card debt matters less than the cost of borrowing (if your card providers only charge 2% a year, that’s a different picture than if they charge 25%).

      Though your general observation still holds: the media (and politicians) focus on a small number of metrics that aren’t relevant to most people’s lives. You just have to be selective about what additional metrics you want to add to the mix.

    • jagged_circle@feddit.nlEnglish
      83·
      3 days ago

      Averages wouldn’t work. We need some unit that returns a low number if most of the wealth is in a small number of people’s pockets.

      Consider a world where one country has 99% of the world’s wealth, and 99% of that wealth inside that country is held by 1 person, with everyone else literally struggling to feed themselves.

      An average net worth for the country would show the country as having a very good economy. But, in fact, the economy is terrible. Because it benefits only one person. That’s a failed economy.