Speaker 1: The US added two hundred and fifty four thousand jobs
Speaker 1: last month. That was beyond all estimates to the upside.
Speaker 1: Let's unpack it now with Acting Labor Secretary Julius Sue Secretary,
Speaker 1: It's great to have you with us. Of course, we
Speaker 1: have a lot of good news to talk about from
Speaker 1: the upside, surprise on payrolls, of course, the unemployment rate dropping,
Speaker 1: and of course that port strike suspension. Let's start with
Speaker 1: the labor market though, because as I mentioned, of course
Speaker 1: beyond all estimates to the upside. And then you take
Speaker 1: a look at some of the details on the demographic level,
Speaker 1: even more good news when it comes to white, black,
Speaker 1: and Hispanic unemployment. Where do you see the greatest source
Speaker 1: of strength. What were some of the factors driving those improvements?
Speaker 2: I think this has.
Speaker 3: Been the story of the economy under the Bidenhairs administration. Frankly,
Speaker 3: many people predicted that we would not be able to
Speaker 3: do this, have this kind of recovery and have incredible
Speaker 3: job growth while keeping the unemployment rate low, while bringing
Speaker 3: down inflation and interest For it's all of those things
Speaker 3: are now happening. We saw growth in this last month
Speaker 3: in healthcare. We saw in restaurants, we saw in local government.
Speaker 3: You know, all of these things translate into quality of life. Right,
Speaker 3: It's not just workers out there doing jobs. It's you know,
Speaker 3: potholes are being fixed, it's you know, increased public safety.
Speaker 2: It's people getting back to normal. Right.
Speaker 3: Remember four years ago this time, a lot of restaurants
Speaker 3: were closed. Now it's the industry with you know, with
Speaker 3: incredible growth.
Speaker 2: In the September report, it was back to school four
Speaker 2: years ago, back to zoom.
Speaker 3: Because we were in the middle of a global pandemic
Speaker 3: and there was no national strategy to get it under control.
Speaker 3: You know, four years ago kids were being told no
Speaker 3: trick or treating for Halloween.
Speaker 2: We're in a very.
Speaker 3: Different place right now, and that is in no small
Speaker 3: part because of strong leadership and economic policies that have
Speaker 3: helped to fuel an unprecedented economic recovery.
Speaker 1: And Secretary as you know, well, very strong report overall.
Speaker 1: If you were looking for some weakness, would find it
Speaker 1: in the manufacturing sector. Of course, shetting another seven thousand jobs.
Speaker 1: That was slightly better than estimate, but a contraction there, nonetheless,
Speaker 1: and the downward revisions there were actually lower. So what
Speaker 1: is the administration doing to address what's going on in
Speaker 1: the manufacturing sector.
Speaker 3: So here's the story of manufacturing. You know, President Biden
Speaker 3: and Vice President Harris have been saying since day one,
Speaker 3: we believe we can make things in America again. We
Speaker 3: can open up factories that were shuttered in the last administration.
Speaker 3: I visited some of those, you know, factories where people
Speaker 3: had to leave their community, leave their families to go
Speaker 3: find jobs elsewhere that are being opened up again. But
Speaker 3: it also takes some time to reverse the you know,
Speaker 3: really decades of disinvestment in our manufacturing industries. Now we're
Speaker 3: making historic investments now and that's really showing up in
Speaker 3: the construction sector.
Speaker 2: And you've got to build.
Speaker 3: The manufacturing facilities before you can hire people into them.
Speaker 2: And so this is you know, even this.
Speaker 3: Job's report, as great as it is, is not a
Speaker 3: declaration of victory. It's a declaration of progress. We are
Speaker 3: making significant progress, and we need to keep up that trend.
Speaker 3: We need to keep up that work. Manufacturing jobs have grown,
Speaker 3: but they're going to grow more as we keep investing
Speaker 3: in America.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk, of course about the other piece of
Speaker 1: good news this morning, and that is that the three
Speaker 1: days strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast Ports has
Speaker 1: ended the contract extended through January fifteenth. I know that
Speaker 1: you were heavily involved in the negotiations, The New York
Speaker 1: Times reporting that you were in New Jersey yesterday, of course,
Speaker 1: meeting with the unions. Talk to us about how it
Speaker 1: happened in the end. What did you do, What did
Speaker 1: Secretary Buddha Judge do, and what did Joe Biden do.
Speaker 3: Look, this is another example of many in this administration,
Speaker 3: of just how powerful and effective collective bargaining is when
Speaker 3: workers have a voice of the table, when they have
Speaker 3: a union on the job, when they can come to
Speaker 3: the table, sit down with their employers and talk about
Speaker 3: what's good for them, what's good for their company, better
Speaker 3: for the economy, it's better for the nation. We've seen
Speaker 3: that from auto workers to airline flight attendants, from hospitality
Speaker 3: to healthcare, and now at the.
Speaker 2: Docks as well.
Speaker 3: And this was a situation where longshore men, who do
Speaker 3: difficult and often dangerous jobs, work through the pandemic, strap
Speaker 3: the country on their backs and have helped to fuel
Speaker 3: record profits. You know, shipping carriers have made tens of
Speaker 3: billions of dollars in profits.
Speaker 2: Over the last few years.
Speaker 3: Again, that's partly because the economy as a whole is strong.
Speaker 3: So when the economy is strong, everybody benefits. And this
Speaker 3: is an example of how when workers have a voice,
Speaker 3: when collective bargaining happens, workers can get their fair share.
Speaker 3: And at the end of the day, you know, when
Speaker 3: I was in New Jersey when this was about to
Speaker 3: be about to happen, the longshore men were saying, let's
Speaker 3: get back to work right away.
Speaker 2: They were ready to go back last night.
Speaker 3: That's because working people understand how important they are. They
Speaker 3: understand their contributions, and they are showing up every day
Speaker 3: to make them and we are really happy to see
Speaker 3: them getting their share.
Speaker 1: Well, Secretary, it's a victory, but it's a partial victory
Speaker 1: because we're talking about an extension until January fifteenth.
Speaker 2: So what is.
Speaker 1: Still yet to be resolved here between now and January fifteenth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such an important point, right.
Speaker 3: Collective bargaining is a process, and you heard the President
Speaker 3: say this.
Speaker 2: I'm grateful to be in a.
Speaker 3: Cabinet of other people who are fully committed to the
Speaker 3: idea that you know, we have to trust the parties
Speaker 3: and now that they're coming back to the table, they're
Speaker 3: going to deal with all of the other issues that
Speaker 3: are on the table, and I have great faith that
Speaker 3: they're going to get to a fair contract and be
Speaker 3: able to move forward together to the important work of
Speaker 3: our supply chains and helping to you know, continue to
Speaker 3: make sure with the strongest economy in the world.
Speaker 2: So you have great faith here.
Speaker 1: But I mean, is it possible that we're going to
Speaker 1: see this fall through in January, that we're going to
Speaker 1: see a return to the picket lines when you think
Speaker 1: about some of those issues that are still yet to
Speaker 1: be resolved.
Speaker 3: Well, the vast majority of contracts when they're being negotiated
Speaker 3: and in a contract, I've been all across the country,
Speaker 3: you know, both celebrating those outcomes and you know, urging
Speaker 3: the parties to stay at the table. So the ones
Speaker 3: that we hear about are ones that become you know,
Speaker 3: more contentious.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: A lot of times that is because workers for a
Speaker 3: long time have been falling behind. You know, there have
Speaker 3: been you know, the economy in the last administration was
Speaker 3: not as strong as it is now. The contract for
Speaker 3: these longshoremen was negotiated in the last in the last administration. Today,
Speaker 3: the economy as demonstrated by the jobs report, is stronger,
Speaker 3: it's different, and so we believe. You know, now the
Speaker 3: parties have resolved one of their big issues. The best
Speaker 3: way to get this done is for them to sit
Speaker 3: down together, and that's exactly what they're going to.
Speaker 2: Do, all right.
Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time as always, of course, know
Speaker 1: it's a busy morning for you. That is Acting Labor
Speaker 1: Secretary Jillie Sue