WEBVTT - Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su Talks Jobs Data 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.159 Let's continue the discussion now because joining us is Acting 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:06.440 Labor Secretary, Julie Sue joining from Washington. 0:00:06.559 --> 0:00:07.080 Secretary. 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:10.239 Great to speak with you again today. I want to 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.480 talk about the response rate. We were just having that 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.280 conversation with Mike McKee. So just how low was the 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.640 response rate, of course, in the wake of Hurricanes Helene 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:21.320 and Milton, and what would you. 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:22.680 Expect it to pick back up? 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:29.560 Yeah, So the overall picture of this economy remains one strong, steady, 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:34.640 stable growth. We have seen positive job growth every single 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.839 month under this administration. And as you noted, there were 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.000 a couple of big factors that make this last. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:41.600 Month and anomaly. 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:47.879 There were the devastating hurricanes, which meant that there were 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.360 jobs that people, you know, businesses that were closed. 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:53.800 You know, we saw this because the. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:57.120 Federal government was on the ground working with state and 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:01.680 local officials to do everything from the search and rescue 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.560 to reopening roads, to making sure people had access to 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:08.440 water and to power, and so those same businesses that 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.760 might have ramped up in the last month on hiring, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.640 we're not doing so. At the same time, the other 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:20.240 big indicators are still really stable. Unemployment rate remains at 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.280 four point one percent. We've said this again and again 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:25.800 that most predictors were that that number could not go 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.840 down to that for many, many years after the pandemic, 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.200 and it's been steadily at near or below four percent 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:38.040 for for a very long time. GDP growth is up 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:42.360 to wages continued to be up. Wages have outpaced inflation 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:43.880 for seventeen months straight. 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:46.880 And so there are a couple factors. 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.960 That you know that you know certainly you know we 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:54.320 expected that they would affect the numbers for last month's report. 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:55.720 Well, Secretary, if we look at. 0:01:55.600 --> 0:01:58.640 What wasn't as impacted by some of these effects that 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:00.320 we're talking about on the weather, I mean, we still 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:04.840 had big downward revisions to this September and August payrolls report. Obviously, 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.160 this is going to be a bit of a noisy report. 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.120 And looking ahead, I mean you'd take a look to 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:13.600 October or what we're going to get the next time around. 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.720 How big would we expect those revisions to be. 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.639 Yeah, again, you know, there were anomalous situations that affected 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:25.160 this report. But even with those revisions in the prior 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.440 couple months, the three month average and we often look 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:30.520 at averages because we don't want to make too much 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:31.360 of any one month. 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:33.040 As you said, some of them can be noisy. 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.519 The three month average for the prior three months is 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:39.600 still a one hundred and forty eight thousand jobs grown. 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:40.120 In the economy. 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.200 And again, you know, if you look at overall indicators, 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.680 I mean, people have been predicting a downturn for a 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.480 long time this economy, and it just has not. That's 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.600 not what's happened. And that doesn't happen by accident. You know, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:03:00.480 it happens because of steady leadership. And again, the vestments 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:04.280 that we've made in America in manufacturing and construction and 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:06.040 clean energy are having an. 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:07.079 Effect, and that is one. 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.800 Of the key reasons for the strength of the economy 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.720 that we've had. Those investments will continue and they are, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:15.840 you know, that's part of the impact that we've seen 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.560 over the last really three and a half years. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:22.480 The administration has guided that this would be a noisy 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.160 report already, and of course this morning was indeed quite noisy. 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:28.440 I want to go to the unemployment rate because one 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.200 reason it did hold steady was the decrease in the 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.840 labor force participation. If we can hone in there, how 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:40.360 would you characterize the impact of the hurricanes in participation, right. 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.120 I mean, it's, as you noted earlier, we don't have 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.720 granular data about that, but I think it's you know, 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:51.400 it's a rational conclusion that the impacts of the hurricanes 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:54.280 were devastating. I mean, they were devastating to human life. 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.280 They were devastating to those communities in the southeast, but 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.440 they also are showing up in the jobs report said 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:05.120 that the overall labor force participation rate also remains, you know, steady, 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.840 it's a it's at historic highs. So when we talk 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.080 about the economy, we have to look at trends, and 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:14.680 the trends overall on all major indicators, h you know, 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.240 continue to signal an economy that's very strong. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.200 And there is nobody who's. 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.880 You know, reassessing the overall healthy economy based on based 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.240 on these numbers, which are really affected by by a 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:28.760 couple of things that happened last month. 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:30.800 I'd also love for you to go into the impact 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.280 of the strikes as well. Obviously the Boeing strike as 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:37.240 well as others, have impacted that manufacturing number, but the 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:42.080 Boeings latest union endorsed the latest offer. Do you expect 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.839 there to be enough votes to approve the current deal 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.960 and ultimately end the strike, and on what timeline. 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:50.240 Right. 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.200 So, I've said a lot of times collective bargaining works, 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.880 and there is no better example of that than when 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:01.360 workers at the bargaining table get a an unprecedented offer 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:05.160 and where the demands that they've had, you know, they 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.120 get a chance to sit down at the table and 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.080 help to shape the future of their jobs and the 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.120 future of their employer and the future of their industry. 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.160 It is true that the tens of thousands of workers 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.640 being on strike are also one reason for the jobs 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:20.719 numbers that we see this month. 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:25.200 And you know, the workers will decide. You know, they 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.080 have been demanding. 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.840 Makeup in wages and other working conditions for what's been 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:36.120 over a decade of not having them, and so they 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:37.440 now have an offer before them. 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:39.200 And it was a. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.440 Privilege to help bring the parties together to help move 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:46.480 those talks along. And they'll vote. They'll vote on Monday. 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.160 And of course, Labor Secretary, you've of course been involved 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.279 in ending other strikes, You're involved in these negotiations as well. 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:56.160 We're counting down to that vote. What is still at 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.800 issue here, because of course we've had a lot of 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.480 conversations about wages increases. 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:01.640 We know that there's been. 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:03.640 A lot of daylight between these two sides when it 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.719 comes to the issues of pensions, for example, what is 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:08.880 still left to be resolved right now? 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:16.080 I mean, you know, these issues of retirement, security of benefits, 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:17.880 you know, making sure that workers can go to the 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:21.000 doctor without breaking the bank. All of these things are 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:25.720 fundamental to a good job, and in unions workers usually 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.240 have those things. They're not something that every worker gets 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.480 to enjoy. And so at the bargaining table all these 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.960 issues come up again. These parties have not bargained for 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.400 over a decade, and now that they've been able to 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:39.719 do that, the workers have been able to surface issues 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:40.040 that have. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.000 Been, you know, on their minds for a very long time. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:49.159 And they now have an offer that addresses the issues 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.120 that they brought to the table. And I really need 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.320 to give credit to both parties for coming to the table, 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:56.520 for doing the hard work. 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:00.159 These things are never easy. They often take all night. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.960 I've been at the table all night, so you know, 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.000 this is the process of collective bargaining. It doesn't always 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:06.800 look pretty from the outside, but we have seen the 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.800 results time and time again, from auto workers to actors, 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.040 you know, all across the industry where workers are seeing 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:15.920 really historic gains, and that is a part of the 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:17.600 picture of the overall economy. 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:17.800 You know. 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.840 President Biden and Vice President Harris have said from day one, 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.880 we can't build the economy that we want if we 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.600 don't do right by working people. And the fact that 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:30.600 wages continue to be up and wages exceed inflation are 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:32.920 signs of that working families have more money. 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.640 In their pockets and that's a good thing 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:38.720 Our thanks to Acting Labor Secretary Julie Sue, we do 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:39.520 have to leave it there.