Speaker 1: Let's broad out this conversation because I'm pleased to say
Speaker 1: now that joining us is US acting Labor Secretary, Julie Sue, Secretary.
Speaker 1: This is our last conversation together in this specific context,
Speaker 1: and of course we're on the heels of a blowout
Speaker 1: jobs report for the December hiring period. As you prepare
Speaker 1: to hand off to the incoming Trump administration, would you
Speaker 1: describe this labor market as a fully employed America? What
Speaker 1: work is still left to be done?
Speaker 2: I mean, there's of course still work to do, and
Speaker 2: we've said that from the beginning, which is why from
Speaker 2: the beginning we said the unprecedented crises facing this country
Speaker 2: required an unprecedented solution, an unprecedented response, including by the
Speaker 2: federal government, and that's what we have done. And today's
Speaker 2: numbers following on the heels of consistent, steady, stable growth
Speaker 2: sixteen point seven million jobs since his president came into office.
Speaker 2: He is the only president that has had positive job
Speaker 2: growth every single month of his presidency. And that is
Speaker 2: what we hand off because we knew that that's what
Speaker 2: the American people deserved, and we knew that if we
Speaker 2: focused on what was good for workers first, that we
Speaker 2: could have recovery like no other, and that's certainly what
Speaker 2: this month's numbers reflect.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I believe we're looking at forty eight months with
Speaker 1: consecutive payroll gains, and that, of course is going in
Speaker 1: data going back to nineteen thirty nine. I do want
Speaker 1: to talk about the manufacturing sector, because if you're looking
Speaker 1: for some pain, you're going to find it there in
Speaker 1: the manufacturing sector shedding jobs again in December. What do
Speaker 1: you think is going on specifically in that industry. Can
Speaker 1: we draw a line between those job losses to all
Speaker 1: of the different labor disputes that.
Speaker 2: We've been seeing. No, I would draw the line too.
Speaker 2: Really decades of economic policies, trade policies that have not
Speaker 2: favored workers, and of commitment to jobs, which is also
Speaker 2: why President Biden came in and said we're going to
Speaker 2: invest in manufacturing. As a result, the recovery that we've
Speaker 2: seen since twenty twenty one is the only economic recovery
Speaker 2: in this century in which the manufacturing sector actually bounced
Speaker 2: back from a crisis like the one we inherited. And
Speaker 2: so there's more work to do, there's no question about it.
Speaker 2: And we know that workers in states where manufacturing has
Speaker 2: been the foundation need continued investments, and there's some uncertainly
Speaker 2: about that because the incoming administration has raised questions about
Speaker 2: whether those investments would continue. But what we've seen is
Speaker 2: that doing that, having the Inflation Reduction Act right, having
Speaker 2: investments in bringing manufacturing back to the United States into
Speaker 2: our heartland is the right way to build the economy.
Speaker 3: One more here on manufacturing here, because both American workers
Speaker 3: and investors alike are looking for any potential future pains
Speaker 3: that could come. How much do you see this as
Speaker 3: a harbinger for future cooling in the labor market or
Speaker 3: do you think that this is just attributed to cyclical factors.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, at this point, any sort of change
Speaker 2: in direction in terms of investing in American manufacturing right
Speaker 2: and investing in the companies who've committed to make things
Speaker 2: here and making sure those investments result in not just
Speaker 2: numbers of jobs, but good jobs. Any reversal of that
Speaker 2: feels like it would be terribly irresponsible. And so you know,
Speaker 2: we've certainly seen again the growth that we've seen steadily
Speaker 2: over this administration does not happen by accident, and the
Speaker 2: reversal of decades long trends that have not been good
Speaker 2: for working people. Also cannot happen overnight. So my hope
Speaker 2: is that we are handing off the strongest economy in
Speaker 2: the world right now, and the work remains unfinished, and
Speaker 2: that commitment to workers, we hope will continue too, so
Speaker 2: those manufacturing jobs can continue to come back. And we've
Speaker 2: seen two years of very strong growth in construction that's
Speaker 2: non residential construction. A lot of that because of the
Speaker 2: presence infrastructure promises that we've been delivering on, and you've
Speaker 2: got to build the factories before you can employ people
Speaker 2: in them, so that's still work to come exactly.
Speaker 4: That work has to continue, ma'am. I wonder in terms
Speaker 4: of the transition, if you've spoken with incoming the incoming
Speaker 4: labor nominee Lori Chavez de Raymer, have you had those
Speaker 4: conversations with her team as part of the transition.
Speaker 2: Now, my team has been very cooperative. Their transition team
Speaker 2: has been here on site, and we are in every
Speaker 2: way going to cooperate both to make sure that they
Speaker 2: can succeed, but also to make sure that the strength
Speaker 2: of the department that we've built up right, not only
Speaker 2: to do all these good things we've talked about in
Speaker 2: terms of job creation and connecting people to good jobs,
Speaker 2: but also that really basic mission of enforcing labor laws,
Speaker 2: making sure that every worker gets a just days pay
Speaker 2: for a hard day's work, making sure every worker comes
Speaker 2: home healthy and safe. Those are fundamental responsibilities of the Department,
Speaker 2: and and our fifteen thousand strong federal workers are gonna
Speaker 2: continue that really important work. And so we're cooperating with
Speaker 2: following the Presence instruction that we make this a very
Speaker 2: smooth transfer of power.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk, of course about what the new Labor
Speaker 1: Department will have to deal with when it comes to
Speaker 1: extreme weather. You and I have spoken before about the impacts,
Speaker 1: of course of the hurricanes Milton and Helene on the
Speaker 1: labor market, and we're witnessing devastating wildfires underway in California
Speaker 1: in the Los Angeles area. How much of an impact
Speaker 1: would you expect that to have on the January print
Speaker 1: and the revisions going forward from there?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, thank you for mentioning that. You know,
Speaker 2: that is my home state and my home city, and
Speaker 2: so I've talked to lots of friends, family members who
Speaker 2: it's the human impact of climate change, and you know,
Speaker 2: it's devastating, right, from wildfires to hurricanes. We've seen that
Speaker 2: just in the last few years, even you know, part
Speaker 2: of our job here is to make sure that those
Speaker 2: workers who go in and do the work during those
Speaker 2: disasters are themselves paid and healthy and safe in doing
Speaker 2: that job. It's also to make sure that when communities
Speaker 2: have to recover, that they get the disaster benefits and
Speaker 2: relief that they need. And so again, those are really fundamental,
Speaker 2: important roles of the department, and we also leave a
Speaker 2: department that's really strongly poised to deliver on those kinds
Speaker 2: of things.
Speaker 1: But it's devastating, all right, Secretary, we have to leave
Speaker 1: it there. We really appreciate you taking the time to
Speaker 1: speak with us on these labor releases over the past
Speaker 1: several months, and best of luck in your next role,
Speaker 1: that is Acting Labor Secretary. Julie Sue