Dec 18, 2021 - Politics & Policy

Team Biden is making a list: Favorite Year 1 numbers

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President Biden spars with reporters as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn on Wednesday.

President Biden spars with reporters as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn on Wednesday. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

White House communications director Kate Bedingfield sent Democratic lawmakers a memo outlining President Biden's Year 1 accomplishments, even with Build Back Better in limbo.

Driving the news: A copy came down the Axios AM chimney.

Vaccines: "490 million shots in arms ... At this time last year: less than 1% of Americans were fully vaccinated. Today: More than 71% of American adults are fully vaccinated."

  • First shot: "At the start of the year: just one-third of adults were eager to get vaccinated. Today, 85% of adults have had their first shot."

Schools open: When Biden took office, "46% of schools were open. Today, 99% of schools are open."

Jobs: "The economy added nearly six million jobs this year — the most of any first-year president in history. When POTUS took office, ... unemployment was 6.3%. Today it's 4.2%."

  • "The average number of Americans filing for unemployment over the last four weeks is at its lowest level since 1969. When POTUS took office, over 18 million were receiving unemployment benefits. Today, only 2 million are."

Child poverty: "Because of the [$1.9 trillion] American Rescue Plan and historic economy recovery, child poverty was cut in half."

GDP: "Without the ARP, Moody’s estimates 2021 growth at 2.9%. After ARP: On pace for growth of 5-6 percent — best since 1984."

  • "U.S. was only G7 country [U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy] to surpass pre-pandemic output by Q2 2021 and keep growing. No other G7 country had reached pre-pandemic output by end of 3Q 2021."

Long-term unemployed: "In President Biden’s first 10 months, long-term unemployment fell by 1.8 million — the greatest drop in long-term unemployment in U.S. history."

  • Reality check: Surging inflation forces people and businesses to adapt.
  • Go deeper: Read the memo. ... White House: "Significant Supply Chain Progress as the Holidays Draw Near."
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