Gains in gov’t jobs couldn’t save Biden’s economy in April

Growth in government jobs slowed in April, bucking the pattern that has contributed to above-trend job growth over the past several months, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Employment in government grew just 8,000 in April, lower than the average over the past year of 55,000 per month, according to data from the BLS. A slowdown in government hiring led total job growth in April to be largely anemic compared to recent months, with the U.S. adding only 175,000 nonfarm payroll positions in the month, lower than the average over the past year of 242,000.

Gains in government positions have recently boosted overall growth numbers, including a 51,000 gain in March and a 618,000 gain in the last year, according to the BLS. Despite the relatively small gain in April, the month marks the sixth in a row where the number of people employed by the government has hit a new record, totaling 23,271,000.

Job gains in April were led by healthcare, which added 56,000, followed by a 31,000 gain in the social assistance sector and 22,000 in transportation, according to the BLS. The information, professional services, and mining and logging sectors all saw slight declines in employment numbers.

Another month, another record number of people working for the gov’t – at taxpayer expense, of course; this is a great way to delay a recession, but not a formula for long-run prosperity and growth: pic.twitter.com/lNsi8ztuWH

— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) May 3, 2024

In total, the U.S. economy has added nearly 2.8 million jobs in the past year, meaning over 20% of all new jobs in the past year have been created by the government, according to the BLS. Government job gains in April were composed of 2,000 in the federal government and 6,000 in state governments.

“With today’s report of 175,000 new jobs, the great American comeback continues,” Biden said in a statement following the BLS report. “When I took office, I inherited an economy on the brink, with the worst economic crisis in a century. I had a plan to turn our country around and build our economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

Economic growth slumped in the first quarter to 1.6%, due in large part to a decrease in government spending. Slow growth coupled with persistently elevated inflation, which measured at 3.5% in March, has stoked fears that the economy is entering or is already in stagflation.

The U.S. national debt has surged to nearly $34.6 trillion as of May 1, an increase of around $6.8 trillion since President Joe Biden first took office in January 2021, according to the Treasury Department.

The White House referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to the president’s statement.

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