U.S. President Joe Biden gestures as he delivers remarks on the April jobs report from the East Room of the White House in Washington
Washington: US President Joe Biden has defended his big-spending plans to kickstart the US economy after a disappointing jobs report showed the number of Americans entering the workforce falling well below expectations.
The US economy added just 266,000 jobs in April, well below economists' expectations that around one million jobs would be created as vaccination numbers soar and COVID-19 cases decline.
In March Biden signed into a law a US$1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion) COVID-19 relief bill, including US$1400 ($1780) cheques for most American workers, that was aimed at boosting the economy.
Republicans leapt upon the underwhelming jobs figures as evidence they were right to warn that the bill's expanded unemployment benefits would deter Americans from returning to work.
The US unemployment rate remains essentially unchanged at 6.1 percent, well above the rate of 3.5 per cent when the pandemic hit.
"When we passed the American Rescue Plan, I want to remind everybody, it was designed to help us over the course of a year, not 60 days," Biden said in remarks at the White House.
"We never thought that after the first 50 or 60 days, everything would be fine."
Biden continued: "We knew this wouldn't be a sprint, it'd be a marathon.
"Quite frankly, we're moving more rapidly than I thought we would."
Biden, who has proposed trillions of dollars in new spending on infrastructure and childcare, said the jobs report showed how important it was for the federal government to provide extra support for families and businesses.
"Our efforts are starting to work, but the climb is steep, and we still have a long way to go," he said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said: "You know, we've had a very unusual hit to our economy, and the road back is going to be somewhat bumpy.
"I believe we will reach full employment next year. But today's numbers also show that we're not yet finished as our economy continues to heal."
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acknowledged the jobs figure was "disappointing".
The US Chamber of Commerce called for policymakers to end the US$300 weekly increase in unemployment benefits, a boost it said had resulted in one in four workers taking home more in unemployment than they had earned while working.
"The disappointing jobs report makes it clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market," the chamber's chief policy officer Neil Bradley said.
"We need a comprehensive approach to dealing with our workforce issues and the very real threat unfilled positions poses to our economic recovery from the pandemic."
Republican Senator Ron Johnson said on Twitter: "The economy was roaring back to life before Biden became President.
"The biggest problem businesses face now is finding people willing to turn down government subsidies and go back to work."