President Joe Biden was "very misleading" in his remarks about Friday's jobs report showing that U.S. employment increased less than expected in December, economist Stephen Moore, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, tells Newsmax.
"We have one of the record lowest labor force participation rates today ... and that is the big problem right now," Moore told Newsmax's "National Report."
"We would have about 5, 6, 7 million more people working if we just got labor force participation back to where it was" under former President Donald Trump.
The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls went up by 199,000 jobs last month after data from November was revised to show payrolls advancing by 249,000.
Biden Friday touted the nation's unemployment rate numbers as dropping to a new low for the pandemic, and said his economic agenda is getting the United States "back on its feet," reports CNN.
While the economy added jobs at a far lower rate than economists had predicted, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, a rate Biden praised as being a "historic day for our economic recovery." He also argued that the report reflected how Americans are quitting their jobs in favor of work that offers better pay and benefits.
"Workers are getting wage increases, but they're not for most workers," Moore told Newsmax.
"They are not keeping pace with inflation, so people's real purchasing power is declining. Now sure, if you point to one group or another, because they will look at this group, but for most workers, they are falling behind. They're becoming poorer because of inflation. If I were advising President Biden, I'd say job No. 1 now is to get this inflation under control because it's hurting lower-income people."
Moore called the report a "disappointment" and said people aren't working because the government is paying them "too much money to stay unemployed."
"With all of this deluge of government payment programs and welfare programs, whether it's rental assistance, food stamps, unemployment benefits, cash payments for their children, there are probably 40 or 50 different programs," said Moore.
"People can make just about as much money by not working than they are for working, so we have to get back the idea of work requirements … this idea that people can make $60,000; $70,000; $80,000 a year in all these benefits is crazy."
He also pointed out that the labor report shows that wage gains are running at about 4.5%, but inflation is at 6.9%.
"This inflation is killing workers, killing them because the paycheck is shrinking," said Moore.
Meanwhile, Biden said he is continuing to add jobs. Moore said he couldn't say "definitively" if the numbers are back to pre-pandemic levels, but he doesn't think they are.
"We've got to get about 8 million more Americans back into the workforce," he said. "Let's stop paying people for not working and encourage people to get into work. Working is not just good for your family [or] the country, but it's also good for your health and well-being. There is dignity, and every study shows that workers who are working are better off not just financially, but by having a job."
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