Biden says US can confront inflation ‘without sacrificing’ economic gains

WASHINGTON: The latest batch of solid employment figures shows the United States can weather the inflation surge while maintaining healthy growth, President Joe Biden said Friday.

"We’ve laid an economic foundation that’s historically strong," Biden said, emphasising the resiliency of the US economy despite rising consumer prices.

"Now we’re moving forward to a new moment where we can build on that foundation — build a future of stable, steady growth — so we can bring down inflation without sacrificing all the historic gains we’ve made."

American employers added 390,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, a sign of a slowdown in hiring but still a better-than-expected result amid a shortage of workers.

Wages rose again and were 5.2% higher than May 2021, but the annual pace of increases was slightly slower than recorded in April, the report said.

That could be good news for the Federal Reserve, which has launched an aggressive campaign to raise interest rates to combat the highest US inflation in more than 40 years.

"I know that even with today’s good news, a lot of Americans remain anxious," Biden said, acknowledging the sky-high prices for essential goods such as food and gasoline, which have reached a record high at the pump.

But "because of the enormous progress we’ve made on the economy, the Americans can tackle inflation from a position of strength," the president said.