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Apr 3, 2022 - Economy & Business

Ron Klain: White House sees "encouraging signs" economy is rebounding

Ivana Saric

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on ABC's "This Week" touted the "encouraging signs" that the U.S. economy is recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The big picture: Klain pointed to a jobs report out Friday that showed signs of a booming job market, with 431,000 jobs added in March as wages rose. The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.6%, a new two-year low. "We've solved the jobs crisis, we got America back to work," Klain said.

What they're saying: Klain said he "cautiously" agreed with an assessment by Austan Goolsbee, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, that the economy is moving out of the "COVID era."

  • "I certainly think we, thanks to the success President Biden has had in vaccinating over 225 million Americans, boosting over 100 million Americans, Americans back to work," Klain said.
  • "America has protection from the existing forms of COVID," Klain said. "We have to be always vigilant and on guard ... for this virus mutating again, for future waves. We have to be prepared to deal with that."

The bottom line: "Right now, as we stand here today, our schools are open, our businesses are open, people are coming back to work, people are coming back into the labor force, we had a big jump in labor force participation in March."

  • "There are a lot of encouraging signs in terms of this economy coming back to being a robust jobs and business creating economy."
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