Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Line from New York City for our audience worldwide on
Speaker 2: Bloomberg TV and on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jonathan Ferrow and
Speaker 2: joining us now. I'm very pleased to say is the
Speaker 2: US Labor Secretary, Laurie Chevesdrema, the Madam Secretary. Welcome to
Speaker 2: the program, and first of all, congratulations on your confirmation. Secondly,
Speaker 2: the jobs report a blowout jobs report, an upside surprise.
Speaker 2: There can be no debate about how solid this job
Speaker 2: report is this morning. Where there is debate on Wall Street,
Speaker 2: as I'm sure you know, is whether this will be
Speaker 2: the last solid jobs report for the remainder of twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five. There is a lot of worry about policy
Speaker 2: volatil isy. What gives you the faith the hope that
Speaker 2: we will see more of the same?
Speaker 3: Yan for having me and listen. This is a great
Speaker 3: day for America. This is a great day for the
Speaker 3: American worker, and this is a great day for President Trump.
Speaker 3: I can tell you this, I don't expect that this
Speaker 3: will be the last positive job report. We're going to
Speaker 3: be on the ground, We're going to be working together,
Speaker 3: We're going to be focused on the American worker.
Speaker 1: We blew it out of the water.
Speaker 3: Today and again, as I said, this is a great
Speaker 3: day for America.
Speaker 2: With Stokes down two point five percent, for Wall Street,
Speaker 2: they'll struggle to say the same thing we heard from
Speaker 2: JP Morgan in the last twenty four as you said,
Speaker 2: there will be blood, no dutta for an Incelance macrob
Speaker 2: another Wold non strategist on Wall Street, said it's obliteration day,
Speaker 2: not liberation day. Where are we going to get the
Speaker 2: confidence to hire in America with sentiments so beaten up
Speaker 2: over the past month.
Speaker 3: Well, again, I don't believe that that's a sentiment across
Speaker 3: America when you're talking to the workforce.
Speaker 1: If we grow this economy, if.
Speaker 3: We have positive job growth, people will start to keep
Speaker 3: more of their hard earned dollars. They'll start to invest,
Speaker 3: they'll start to save, and I think you'll see those
Speaker 3: markets respond again. The President, you know, went around during
Speaker 3: the campaign, and he's keeping his promises to the American worker.
Speaker 3: He is the president of the American worker. We align
Speaker 3: on that. I'm going to be on the ground starting
Speaker 3: this weekend in Pennsylvania talking to the American worker. I
Speaker 3: want to know what they're doing what they care about,
Speaker 3: and our report and advise the President on the positivity there,
Speaker 3: and we're going to start to grow this economy as
Speaker 3: we build the workforce here in America, and we're going
Speaker 3: to see these numbers continue to rise.
Speaker 2: We don't hear that same positivity in a recent consumer
Speaker 2: sentiments survey. In fact, two thirds expected unemployments of worsen
Speaker 2: through the remainder of the year, the highest reading going
Speaker 2: back to two thousand and nine. These are people who
Speaker 2: are anxious about their jobs, anxious about the labor market.
Speaker 2: You want to see a massive transformation, You want to
Speaker 2: see a huge shift, a reshuring of manufacturing. There are
Speaker 2: things a lot of people want to see. At the
Speaker 2: same time, we hear repeatedly that people are just sitting
Speaker 2: on their hands and waiting. Who's going to do the hiring.
Speaker 3: Well, I can tell you this, the labor market is
Speaker 3: holding steady and we're growing. Unemployment is holding steady, the
Speaker 3: labor demand is growing.
Speaker 1: We're seeing that in our companies.
Speaker 3: We're seeing the investments by major companies tens of billions,
Speaker 3: hundreds of billions of dollars. The workforce, the American workforce
Speaker 3: is going to grow, that is going to be the
Speaker 3: key for the President. It's going to be the key
Speaker 3: for me as the Department of Labor to protect these
Speaker 3: American workers first and grow this economy. That's what we're
Speaker 3: seeing across the board. So yes, we will be hiring.
Speaker 3: We have to get out there and make sure that
Speaker 3: our workforce is skilled and trained.
Speaker 1: That's what I'll be focused on.
Speaker 3: You know, John as a former mayor, as somebody on
Speaker 3: the ground that matters most in all of these communities
Speaker 3: where they are urban, suburban, or rule, and we want
Speaker 3: to make sure that we're our supporting President Trump and
Speaker 3: his agenda and that we're growing that workforce each and
Speaker 3: every day.
Speaker 2: I think out of Secretary, a lot of people would
Speaker 2: have sympathy with the idea that a lot of manufacturing
Speaker 2: in America has been hollowed out over the past few
Speaker 2: decades because of globalization. They will certainly have sympathy with that.
Speaker 2: Where they will struggle is with the strategy for this week.
Speaker 2: When you see tariffs like forty six percent on Vietnam,
Speaker 2: when you see retailers get absolutely hammered, you can take
Speaker 2: a step back and just acknowledge that the way differential
Speaker 2: between what you can earn in Vietnam and what you
Speaker 2: can and in the United States is just too large
Speaker 2: that those companies will have to accept the tariff, won't
Speaker 2: be able to move manufacturing back to the United States,
Speaker 2: and they'll have to do something about costs, which will
Speaker 2: damage the retailer on the ground on main street in America.
Speaker 2: It's the rollout of this strategy that people are really
Speaker 2: struggling with. Madame Secretary, how can you guarantee that these
Speaker 2: retailers won't just be laying people off and putting up prices.
Speaker 2: In what world are they going to move manufacturing from
Speaker 2: Vietnam and start making sneakers in the United States.
Speaker 1: Well, I can tell you this.
Speaker 3: What we saw at the Rose Garden just two days
Speaker 3: ago was the President talking to the American worker.
Speaker 1: We saw who was in the audience. We saw the.
Speaker 3: American worker there supporting President Trump. That's who he campaigned to,
Speaker 3: That's who he believes and that's who I believe in.
Speaker 3: These companies are going to repatriot, they are going to
Speaker 3: onshore back to the United States. We want fair trade
Speaker 3: agreements for our American businesses here as well.
Speaker 1: That's what the President does best.
Speaker 3: I can tell you this, he is a master negotiator,
Speaker 3: and he can teach a masterclass in that. I I
Speaker 3: can tell you the people who were in that audience
Speaker 3: were excited, they were cheering him on, and they are
Speaker 3: supportive of that.
Speaker 1: I will continue that effort.
Speaker 3: I will be on the ground across this country to
Speaker 3: make sure that the President knows what's happening on the
Speaker 3: ground and we can continue to have positive growth for
Speaker 3: those business owners who are on the ground, because I
Speaker 3: do understand that they put their blood, sweat and tears
Speaker 3: into the businesses that they have, and the American worker
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 1: We're going to protect all of them.
Speaker 2: They put their blood, sweat and tears into the ground
Speaker 2: as well. The American farm has got to confront this
Speaker 2: headline this morning that China's announcing an extra thirty four
Speaker 2: percent tariff on US goods. What's your message to.
Speaker 3: Them, Well, our farmers and ranchers and producers deserve our
Speaker 3: attention as well. I'll be working with the AG Secretary
Speaker 3: along with President Trump to make sure that they have
Speaker 3: the necessary things that they need to make sure that
Speaker 3: we are competitive on the world stage. America is number one,
Speaker 3: it will continue to be number one, and I'll do
Speaker 3: everything I can to support those farmers and ranchers and
Speaker 3: producers with the American workers and the workforce that they
Speaker 3: need to get the job done.
Speaker 2: So we've got some key dates. April fifth. Baseline tariffs
Speaker 2: go in April ninth. The bigger tariss go on the
Speaker 2: day after China threatens to retaliate. You're the face of
Speaker 2: the administration today. Are there any negotiations taking place this
Speaker 2: weekend at a high level between China and the United States.
Speaker 3: Well, I would imagine the President is on listen. President
Speaker 3: Trump works NonStop. That is why he built a formidable
Speaker 3: team like myself and the rest of the secretaries to
Speaker 3: do our job and support him.
Speaker 1: We will continue to do so.
Speaker 3: I would imagine that the President is continuing to have
Speaker 3: these conversations because he wants to protect the American worker
Speaker 3: and the American business. We're going to make America wealthy again.
Speaker 3: You heard him say it, and I'm going to help
Speaker 3: him do it.
Speaker 2: I hope you're right there are down some Wall Street
Speaker 2: this morning, and you and I will talk again in
Speaker 2: the future, I'm sure for an update, Madam Secretary, thank
Speaker 2: you for your time. The Labor Secretary, Violet Laurie Chaves
Speaker 2: de Rema Madam Secretary, thank you,