President Joe Biden warned on Friday that the number of coronavirus cases would go up before it came down but insisted America could beat the Delta surge and that the economic plan was working after the U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs in July.
The numbers surpass expectations but come amid warnings that the rapid spread of the Delta variant could reverse gains amid fears of fresh lockdowns and closures.
Even as he celebrated the jobs figures as proof that his policies were working, the president voiced fears of tough times ahead.
'Cases are going to go up before they come back down,' he said at the White House. 'It's a pandemic of the unvaccinated.'
He also garbled his words when he said 350 million Americans had been vaccinated, more than the entire population of the US.
Speaking just before he flew out to his Delaware home for the weekend, he wore a tan suit - triggering a wave of jokes on social media as commentators remembered the furore set off by President Obama's tan suit in 2014.
Biden added that the country was better prepared with vaccinations and masks this time around, so that the economic damage would not be as severe as it was last year.
'America can beat the Delta variant. Just as we beat the original COVID-19,' he said.
'We can do this.'
President Biden's decision to wear a tan summer suit, before leaving the White House for the weekend, triggered a wave of commentary of social media as users remembered the anger and hostility directed at President Obama when he dressed in beige for 2014 news conference
Biden said the jobs numbers showed his economic policies were working during a speech in the East Room of the White House, but admitted the number of coronavirus cases was going to go up before it came down
The strong jobs numbers will be a relief to the White House after Biden's approval ratings took a hit during the past month as COVID-19 cases increased.
Employment growth exceeded the 850,000 gain in jobs predicted by economists as Americans started seeing signs of a return to normality this summer.
Hotels and restaurants added 327,000 jobs last month as they reopened and business picked up and local public schools added 221,000.
Biden said the numbers showed that his policies were working.
'What is indisputable now, is this: The Biden plan is working,' he said. 'The Biden plan produces results and the Biden plan is moving the country forward.'
He said the child tax credit was one of the sources of progress.
Families were returning to restaurants and sports fans filled stadiums across the country, but the explosion in cases in recent weeks has sparked fears the numbers could trend down again in the coming months.
Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network, said only ten percent of small businesses said they had fully recovered.
'Even these gains are in danger, however, as blue state governors and mayors impose new mandates,' he said.
The U.S. economy added 943,000 jobs in July and unemployment fell from 5.9 percent to 5.4 percent according to the latest statistics released by the Bureau of Labor on Friday morning
Seven states - Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi - account for about half of new cases and hospitalizations in the past week, according to the White House
After declining for months with the roll-out of vaccinations, the number of COVID-19 cases has been surging in the past months because of the highly transmissible Delta variant and reservoirs of unvaccinated people
President Biden heralded the numbers as 'historic' and proof that his policies were working
Jason Furman, a leading economist in the Obama White House, welcomed progress but said the economy was still millions of jobs short of where it would have been without the pandemic
'Mayor de Blasio is the poster child, imposing new mandates on small businesses that are already experiencing staffing shortages.
Jason Furman, who was chairman of President's Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, welcomed the numbers but pointed out the economy was missing millions of jobs.
