Biden Adviser: Labor Force Participation Is Disappointing, There Are ‘a Lot of Questions’ ‘about Long COVID’

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Biden Senior Adviser Gene Sperling reacted to the November jobs report by stating that he would have liked better labor force participation numbers and saying that there are “a lot of questions being raised about long COVID” and some other issues.

Sperling said, “I think we’d like to see more stable growth. I would have liked to have seen better labor force participation numbers. There [are] a lot of questions being raised about long COVID and other issues, even though prime-age labor force participation is pretty much where it [was] in 2019. So — but, let’s remember, you’re seeing evidence of housing prices going down. You’re seeing evidence that new leases and rents are starting to trend down. So, I’m just saying that I think you have to look overall, and I’m not downplaying the importance of wages. We all know that’s a significant factor. But I think if you look at the cumulation of the evidence here, again, I think it was a pretty Goldilocks week in terms of jobs and growth while still seeing some of the moderation in prices showing up in several parts of the economy.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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