The U.S. economy continues to challenge growing fears of recession caused by record inflation and rising gas prices, adding 372,000 better-than-expected jobs in June, while the unemployment rate keep stable at 3.6 percent.
However, after the release of Friday’s strong labor report, Fox News seemed surprised by the growth before turning the large number of job opportunities into “America’s labor crisis.”
Just before the Friday morning release of the monthly employment figures, for example, the network prepared its viewers to expect more bad news for President Joe Biden.
“The White House is preparing for what is expected to be a disappointing labor report in just over two hours,” host Carley Shimkus told Fox & Friends ’flagship morning show. “The data is expected to show weaker employment growth since April 2021. But press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is trying to change the narrative. She insists Biden’s economy is the strongest in the world. the history of our country, but confesses that gas prices are out of control despite blaming Vladimir Putin.
Two hours later, after Fox News presenter Julie Banderas told the channel’s audience that the latest employment report exceeded expectations, Fox Business presenter Maria Bartiromo was hired to offer an analysis of the numbers. And, in his view, the report showed that the United States is facing the “tightest labor market” in recent history.
“We’ve been talking about this concern of employers for a few months now, the fact that this is the tightest job market they’ve ever seen raising wages,” he told presenter Bill Hemmer at America’s Newsroom. “Three hundred and seventy-two thousand jobs are much better than expected. Many people wonder how it is possible for us to generate 372,000 jobs even in a possible recession, which is where we are potentially right now. “
Bartiromo would continue to fuel concerns that both inflation and gas prices will continue to rise, although he admitted that “commodities have fallen from the highs,” adding that we are in an “economy that is slowing despite growth.” of employment “.
Hemmer, for his part, noted that there are currently about 11 million jobs open and that “if you want to work in America, you can.” While making these observations, the program released a chart that spoke of “The U.S. Labor Crisis,” while contrasting the number of jobs available with the estimated number of unemployed workers at 5.9 million.
Continuing to express the doubt that the labor market will maintain this level of growth, Bartiromo has concluded that “we will see if this is the last strong report we see before signs of a recession.” Hemmer, while praising Bartiromo’s “great analysis,” wondered aloud if “we’re diving, falling, or going the other way.”
The next hour on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus, another Fox Business presenter also poured cold water on employment figures, suggesting they were indicative of rising inflation and a weakened economy in the brink of recession.
“What’s happening now is that Americans are submerging their savings because of inflation,” David Asman said. “So your savings are running out. What do you do when you’re home and run out of savings? Go back to work. A lot of people who had been sitting on the fence now see these 11 million jobs, choosing the ones that are really good. “
Adding that there are some forecasters who predict there will be negative economic growth in the second quarter, Asman noted that the United States may already be “in recession” and therefore “many of these 11 million jobs are ‘dry’. ”
However, not everyone at Fox tried to give a negative twist to Friday’s job numbers.
“I don’t think this is an economy in recession,” presenter Stuart Varney told Fox Business Network’s Varney and Co.
Other economists also agreed that despite inflationary concerns and the economic slowdown in the first quarter of the year, concerns about the recession may have been premature and exaggerated.
“The employment report strongly suggests that the economy was not in recession during the first half of 2022,” Obama’s economic adviser Jason Furman and research economist Wilson Powell III wrote on Friday. The couple added that the strength of the labor market also suggests that inflation could moderate.
“The sharp 372,000 increase in non-farm payrolls in June seems to make a mockery of claims that the economy is heading, let alone already in a recession,” Capital Economics economist Andrew Hunter told CNBC.