(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said Friday that he does not consider all supporters of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to be a threat to the United States.
“I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question.
The night before, Biden had said during a major, prime-time speech in Philadelphia that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
“There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the ‘MAGA Republicans,’ and that is a threat to this country,” he said, using the acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Biden has repeatedly explained he is not condemning all Republicans, but rather those loyal to Trump.
He said Friday he thought people who call for violence or fail to condemn it, refuse “to acknowledge when an election has been won” and insist on changing the way votes are counted – “that is a threat to democracy.”
Biden said those who voted for Trump in 2020 “and support him now, they weren’t voting for attacking the Capitol, they weren’t voting for overruling an election.”
“They were voting for the philosophy he put forward,” Biden said.
“So, I am not talking about anything other than, it is inappropriate — and it’s not only happened here, but other parts of the world — where there’s a failure to recognize and condemn violence whenever it’s used for political purposes,” he said. “Failure to condemn the attempt to manipulate electoral outcomes. Failure to acknowledge when an election has been won or lost.”
The culmination of weeks of ramped-up rhetorical attacks on Republicans loyal to Trump, his Thursday night speech was highly political in nature, although the White House had taken pains to paint it as an “official” event.
Two Marines stood behind the president as he spoke at Independence Hall, prompting criticism the White House was using them as political props.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday “the presence of the Marines at the speech was intended to demonstrate the deep and abiding respect the president has for these services–service members, to these ideals, and the unique role our independent military plays in defending our democracy, no matter which party is in power.”
She noted previous presidents had spoken while standing in front of members of the military.
(NEW YORK) — Monkeypox cases appear to be on the decline in the epicenter of the country’s outbreak.
Data from the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene shows that as of Aug. 30, the latest date for which data is available, the Big Apple recorded a seven-day rolling average of 9 infections.
That’s an 82% decline from the seven-day rolling average of 50 recorded two weeks ago.
Since the outbreak began in mid-May, no state — or city — has recorded more monkeypox cases than New York, so a drop in infections could be a prediction of what is to come for the rest of the country.
“The good news is monkeypox is declining,” Dr. Roy Gulick, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College, told ABC News. “Globally it’s declining and across the United States but being really led by the major cities and we’ve seen it right here in New York.”
Even as the U.S. approaches 20,000 total infections, nationwide trends appear to show a drop, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Aug. 31, the seven-day rolling average of cases in the U.S. sits at 281, the lowest number recorded since July 25, according to an ABC News analysis of CDC data.
The outbreak has primarily been concentrated in men who have sex with men, a group that includes people who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender and nonbinary, although health officials have said anyone — regardless of sexual orientation — is at risk if they have direct contact with an infected patient
Health experts say men who fall into this category have been likely doing a good job following doctors’ advice in proper precautionary measures.
A joint survey from the CDC, Emory University and Johns Hopkins University found that about one-half of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men reduced their number of sexual partners, their number of one-time anonymous partners and reduced their use of dating apps.
“Health departments as well as community advocates and organizations have really gotten the word out about monkeypox,” Gulick said. “Not only that it was something people needed to pay attention to, but also what to look for, what to do if you had lesions, when you should go see your doctor, and then how to avoid passing it to other people. Or if you didn’t have it, how to avoid getting it in the first place.”
People at risk changed their behavior in response to the threat, he added.
On Thursday, the NYC DOHMH announced it will begin making second doses of the monkeypox vaccine available for those who received their first dose at least 10 weeks earlier.
Walk-ins for first doses will also be accepted a city-run sites, a sign that scarcity of the vaccines is abating.
“Here in New York City, more than 70,000 monkeypox vaccines have been given and recently there was a recommendation to split the dose — make one dose into five doses — and that strategy is also being rolled out, so more vaccines are available,” Gulick said. “We did hear about waiting lists and long waits and trouble getting appointments initially for vaccines, but that really is not the case anymore.”
However, Gulick added the outbreak isn’t over and urged people in high-risk categories to keep taking precautions.
“Although the numbers are encouraging because they’re going down, there is still a risk,” he said. “So, people who are at risk should absolutely seek out the vaccine, talk to their providers about whether they should get it or not and then people should be aware of contacts or changing their behavior to reduce the number of contacts that they have to avoid getting monkeypox.”
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) — A former Marine arrested in El Salvador earlier this week for the 2016 murder of his girlfriend was ordered held without bail during an arraignment hearing in California on Friday.
Raymond McLeod was taken into custody on Monday following a yearslong manhunt. He was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, 30-year-old Krystal Mitchell, who was found strangled to death at a friend’s apartment in San Diego on June 10, 2016.
“This week, this defendant’s brazen attempt to evade justice was over,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said during a press briefing following the arraignment. “The work to hold him accountable has begun.”
McLeod, 37, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder during his arraignment hearing, San Diego ABC affiliate KGTV reported. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 26, 2023. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the district attorney said.
Mitchell’s mother, Josephine Funes Wentzel, a former police detective, was instrumental in the search for McLeod by helping generate leads and spreading the word about the manhunt on social media, the district attorney’s office said.
“He’s not going to get away again. He’s never going to be released from that jail if I could have something to do with that,” Wentzel, who was in the courtroom Friday, told reporters after the arraignment hearing. “I will be satisfied when he is convicted for brutally murdering my daughter, and that he is sentenced to life in prison.”
The couple, from Phoenix, was in San Diego to visit friends when Mitchell was killed. McLeod was seen assaulting Mitchell in the hours before she was found dead from a “violent” strangulation, Stephan said. McLeod, the last person with whom Mitchell was seen alive, then fled to Mexico, Stephan said.
McLeod was believed to have also been in Belize, Guatemala and, for the past two-and-a-half years, El Salvador, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Joseph O’Callahan told reporters during Friday’s briefing.
“He really laid low,” O’Callahan said, noting the former Marine may have relied on training in “clandestine operations.”
Then, on Aug. 20, the U.S. Marshals Service received a promising tip that someone resembling McLeod may be working as an English instructor at a school in Sonsonate, El Salvador, O’Callahan said.
A week later, U.S. Marshals traveled to El Salvador and “determined the individual inside the school was, in fact, Mr. McLeod, going by the name of Jack Donovan,” he said.
McLeod, previously described by the U.S. Marshals as an “avid bodybuilder,” is believed to have taken the name of a bodybuilder in Canada who resembled him and “was able to run with that identity,” O’Callahan said.
El Salvadorian law enforcement officials took McLeod into custody on Monday and he was deported back to the U.S. the following day.
McLeod was added to the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted List in 2021 and a reward of up to $50,000 was being offered for information leading to his capture. O’Callahan said the U.S. Marshals plan to pay the reward but did not share further details.
(WASHINGTON) — Gina McCarthy — President Joe Biden’s top climate adviser — will step down from her post on Sept. 16, the White House announced on Friday.
The National Climate Advisor role will then be filled by McCarthy’s deputy, Ali Zaidi, just weeks after the president signed historic climate legislation.
Longtime Democrat John Podesta, who served as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, was a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, and managed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 White House bid, will oversee the implementation of the climate and energy provisions of Democrats’ recently passed Inflation Reduction Act while also chairing the President’s National Climate Task Force, according to the White House.
“Under Gina McCarthy and Ali Zaidi’s leadership, my administration has taken the most aggressive action ever, from historic legislation to bold executive actions, to confront the climate crisis head-on,” Biden said in a statement announcing the administrative moves.
Biden also nodded to his recruitment of Podesta, under the title, “Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation.” While with the Obama administration, Podesta’s focus was on coordinating climate-related policy initiatives.
“His deep roots in climate and clean energy policy and his experience at senior levels of government mean we can truly hit the ground running to take advantage of the massive clean energy opportunity in front of us.”
After decades of federal inaction to curb climate change, the The Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 billion in investments in climate and clean energy programs– lauded by experts as one of the country’s most important steps to address the issue and potentially decrease energy costs for households nationwide.
“This is an absolute game-changer,” McCarthy said about the IRA’s climate provisions at a recent summit in Lake Tahoe.
McCarthy, 68, led the Environmental Protection Agency for four years during the Obama administration. During her nearly two-year tenure with President Biden, she played an outsized role promoting climate initiatives across federal agencies and moving climate legislation through Congress. Her office helped craft the IRA.
The Washington Post had reported in April that she was mulling the decision to step down from her position, however.
“Yes, she is stepping down,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her Friday briefing. “She, as you know, has been a leader in what we have seen as one of the largest investment in dealing with climate change … She is a — not the first time that she’s been in an administration, and we are very sad to lose her.”
–ABC News’ Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — New York City is suing Starbucks over allegations the coffee corporation unlawfully fired a Queens barista who had been involved in unionization efforts, a city agency announced Friday.
The lawsuit marks the latest in a string of legal disputes over the termination of unionizing Starbucks workers as hundreds of Starbucks stores nationwide have voted to unionize since an initial union victory at a store in Buffalo, New York, last December.
The lawsuit in New York City alleges that Starbucks wrongfully fired worker and union organizer Austin Locke in early July, less than a month after employees at the store where he worked voted to join a union.
Starbucks violated the city’s “just cause” protections, enacted last year, which make it illegal for fast food employers to fire or lay off long-serving workers, or reduce their hours by more than 15 percent, without providing just cause or an economic reason, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, or DCWP, claimed Friday.
In mid-July, the DCWP received a complaint from Locke alleging that Starbucks had illegally fired him, which the agency quickly investigated, a statement from the agency on Friday said.
The records and information Starbucks provided during the investigation did not refute or mitigate the agency’s determination that Starbucks illegally fired him, the DCWP added.
DCWP is seeking an order requiring that Starbucks reinstate Locke and rescind the discipline issued to him, as well as provide back pay and other compensation for lost work, the statement said. Starbucks should also pay civil penalties and comply with the law going forward, the statement said.
“There are now 235 unionized Starbucks around the country,” Locke said in a statement. “Starbucks continues to wrongfully fire pro-union workers nationwide in retaliation for union organizing.”
In response to the lawsuit, a Starbucks spokesperson told ABC News: “We do not comment on pending litigation but we do intend to defend against this alleged violation of the city’s Just Cause law.”
The lawsuit in New York City follows other legal challenges to Starbucks over its treatment of unionizing employees. Last month, a federal judge called for the immediate reinstatement of seven baristas at a store in Memphis, who were terminated in February after talking to a local TV station about their organizing drive.
Federal labor regulators last week filed a complaint that accused Starbucks of illegally discriminating against unionized employees by refusing to provide increases in wages and benefits that the company offered to nonunion workers.
In a response last week, Starbucks said it cannot raise wages and benefits for unionized workers because federal law requires the company to negotiate such terms of employment with the union at stores where workers have opted to join one. “Wages and benefits are mandatory subjects of the collective bargaining process,” Starbucks said in a statement.
In New York City, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a Democrat, applauded the city’s lawsuit on Friday.
“Protecting workers’ rights to organize and unionize is critical, and employers who try to undermine and violate those rights must be held accountable,” she said in a statement.
(WASHINGTON) — The White House is seeking $47 billion from Congress to secure COVID and monkeypox vaccines, to bolster Ukraine’s defenses and to respond to natural disasters at home.
“All of the requests in here meet urgent funding needs,” an administration official told reporters Friday. “It is our responsibility to tell Congress what we need in order to meet these critical needs. These have had bipartisan support in the past, and we fully expect Congress to work with us to reach a resolution on all of them.”
The funding would be tied to a constituting resolution to keep the government running past Sept. 30. Biden officials said the requests are for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, which would span from October to December of this year.
But their request is likely to be met with resistance on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are generally opposed to any additional emergency and Democrats for months have pushed to no avail for supplemental COVID funding that they say is necessary to combatting the virus.
Most of the money would go toward combating the COVID pandemic, with the White House asking lawmakers for $22.4 billion for vaccines, treatments and personal protective equipment (PPE). That sum would also fund “next-generation” research, the administration said, and provide services like treatments for “long COVID.”
On Friday, the federal government’s free program for Americans to order at-home COVID tests was suspended due to a lack of funding. More than 600 millions tests have been sent to families free of charge since the program began in January.
To tackle the monkeypox crisis, the administration is requesting $4.5 billion to expand domestic manufacturing of vaccines, to develop rapid tests, support health activities and more.
The administration has faced criticism for its response to the monkeypox outbreak, with public experts saying the U.S. should have moved faster to distribute tests and vaccines. As of Sept. 1, there were 19,465 total confirmed monkeypox/orthopoxvirus cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This funding will also help ensure the United States is at the front of the line for the best tools to fight any possible future outbreak,” the administration said.
Beyond the administration’s public health efforts, the second largest chunk of the money the White House is requesting would go toward Ukraine.
The administration is seeking $13.7 billion to provide Ukraine with military equipment and intelligence gathering, as well as direct budget assistance to the nation’s government. That funding also includes $2 million for energy-related issues stemming from the conflict.
“We have rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy and we cannot allow that support to Ukraine to run dry,” the administration said. “The people of Ukraine have inspired the world, and the Administration remains committed to supporting the Ukrainian people as they continue to stand resolute and display extraordinary courage in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion.”
To combat natural disasters in the U.S., which faces record heat and devastating flooding, the White House is asking for $6.5 billion to go toward the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund; direct payments for farmers; to local governments to strengthen their eclectic grids and more.
(PLAINFIELD, Ind.) — Police in Indiana are looking for a missing 4-year-old girl who reportedly wandered from her home nearly 24 hours ago and is believed to be in extreme danger.
Fiedwenya Fiefe was last seen around 1 p.m. Thursday after she left her home in the Legacy Farms neighborhood in Plainfield, 17 miles southwest of Indianapolis, authorities said.
Fiedwenya has autism and is nonverbal, so she may not be able to ask for help, Plainfield Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge told reporters Friday morning as the search entered its second day.
“She has a history of leaving the residence unattended but they generally find her quickly and get her back,” Aldridge said.
The state has issued a Silver Alert, alerting the public to missing and endangered adults or children, for Fiedwenya, which noted that she “is believed to be in extreme danger and may require medical assistance.”
Dozens of first responders are searching for Fiedwenya, primarily concentrating on her neighborhood as well as two nearby, Aldridge said.
The girl is drawn to water, and there are approximately 14 ponds in Legacy Farms and a nearby neighborhood that they are actively searching, he said. Drones, rescue canines, off-road vehicles, watercraft and sonar equipment are being used in the search, police said.
No foul play is suspected at this time, Aldridge said.
“The family, as you would imagine, is very devastated,” he said. “They are cooperating with our agency.”
Police have asked residents in the area to check their property for the missing child as well as any exterior home video. Fiedwenya was captured on a resident’s footage walking down her street Thursday shortly after the family reported her missing to police, Aldridge said.
Police described Fiedwenya as a Black girl who is 3 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. She was last seen wearing a long pink dress or nightgown, police said.
(NEW YORK) — A Florida teen has been battling an infection suspected to be caused by a rare, brain-eating amoeba for over 50 days, as his family prays for him to wake up, they said.
Caleb Ziegelbauer, 13, was suffering from a severe headache, high fever and hallucinations when his family brought him to Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers on July 9, according to Lee Health, the hospital’s parent company.
After quickly ruling out bacterial meningitis, doctors began treating the teen for primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a disease with similar symptoms that’s caused by Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that destroys brain tissue. Caleb swam in brackish water days before experiencing his symptoms, further causing doctors to suspect he was infected by the amoeba, the hospital said.
Samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ultimately tested negative for Naegleria fowleri, though Caleb’s doctors continued treating the teen for primary amebic meningoencephalitis due to his symptoms and history, the hospital said.
Caleb was on a ventilator and has suffered seizures while in the pediatric intensive care unit, though his condition has been stable in recent weeks, his family said. After more than 50 days at the children’s hospital, Caleb was transferred this week to a rehabilitation hospital in Chicago for the next phase of his treatment.
His mother, Jesse Ziegelbauer, said they sought out Shirley Ryan AbilityLab because Caleb needs a disorders of consciousness program.
“He is made of pure grit and determination, and it is exactly that which we are banking on to wake him up,” Jesse Ziegelbauer said during a press briefing Wednesday before they left on an air ambulance. “I can’t wait for him to share his story. It is his and only his to share.”
His mother described Caleb, the eldest of four siblings, as an “amazing big brother” who loves baseball and science and wants to be an epidemiologist when he grows up.
“Caleb is brave. Caleb is strong. Caleb is a fighter. Caleb is young. Caleb is healthy. Caleb has a brain capable of healing,” she said.
As he continues to fight, his family say they remain hopeful.
“Every finger twitch we see makes us excited for what’s to come,” Jesse Ziegelbauer said.
Infections with Naegleria fowleri are rare but often fatal. Out of 154 known cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis reported in the U.S. from 1962 to 2021, only four people have survived, according to the CDC.
This summer, a Missouri resident with a confirmed Naegleria fowleri case died, while a child in Nebraska died from a suspected case, health officials in their respective states said.
Infections mainly occur during the summer months in recreational water, according to the CDC. People can become infected by Naegleria fowleri when water containing the amoeba enters the body through their nose.
Symptoms of primary amebic meningoencephalitis include severe headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, stiff neck and seizures.
People can try to reduce their risk of becoming infected by Naegleria fowleri by limiting the amount of water that goes up their nose while in bodies of warm freshwater and by avoiding recreation in warm freshwater during periods of high water temperature.
Caleb started complaining of a headache days after playing in the water at a local beach in Port Charlotte on July 1, his family said. Though his tests were inconclusive for the disease caused by Naegleria fowleri, his doctors at Golisano Children’s Hospital believe that to be the cause of his illness, the hospital said. It is also common for Naegleria fowleri not to be initially detected in patients with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, according to the CDC.
“Due to Caleb’s symptoms, his reported recent exposure to brackish water, and his clinical course, infectious disease physicians at Golisano Children’s Hospital believe he could still have PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri and thus recommended to continue treating him for this infection,” Golisano Children’s Hospital said in a statement to reporters in late July.
Caleb’s family has been speaking out since they first learned of his likely diagnosis in hopes of alerting people on how to protect themselves.
Tampa-based Jet ICU was among those who heard about Caleb and offered to fly him and his family to Chicago at no cost.
“We heard about the story. We had to step in,” Jet ICU flight paramedic Jared Wayt told reporters Wednesday. “He’s already beat the odds. So hopefully we can help further his care and his recovery.”
(NEW YORK) — Two parents who have turned tragedy into a teachable moment are educating others on the dangers of heatstroke.
Martin McNair and Tonya Wilson lost their 19-year-old son, Jordan McNair, in 2018 after the University of Maryland football player suffered a heatstroke following a strenuous football workout. Now, the foundation named for their son is helping others avoid the same fate.
Heatstroke occurs when the body overheats, with internal temperature rising to 104 degrees and is most likely to happen during the summer months, according to the Mayo Clinic. Older adults, people who are overweight as well as people who experience overexertion from exercise are most likely to suffer heatstroke.
“Jordan was very healthy, as far as for his weight and height, he was healthy…we were totally oblivious to what a heat-related injury was. We didn’t know what was going on,” Jordan McNair’s father, Martin McNair, told ABC News.
After Jordan’s death, his parents launched the Jordan McNair Foundation to raise awareness about heatstroke and teach parents what to look for.
“I think for us also, especially for me, my grief went into the work that we’ve done and we’re still amazed that, you know, the accomplishments and the impact that we’ve made up until this point,” McNair told ABC News.
The foundation was established in June 2018, days after Jordan died, and, since then, has started working with student athletes of all ages. The foundation’s work recently expanded to the collegiate level, partnering with Morgan University in Maryland.
“We talk to schools, literally all over the nation, but our main focus is parent education, and that’s really the main thing. Advocacy and the seeds of advocacy need to be planted at a very, very early age, so our goal is to educate parents all over the nation, along with student athletes and the more educated a parent is, the more educated the student athlete is and the more educated coaches are, because parents are asking the right questions at this point,” McNair said.
Questions they wish they knew to ask in 2018.
“I wouldn’t wish this type of pain on nobody, and even though it’s been four years, it’s still felt like yesterday,” McNair said.
“I didn’t prepare him for what I didn’t know. Even though I try not to beat myself up about it, but I constantly did because it was like, ‘I could have prepared him more.’ I taught him how to be a leader, you know? How to defend himself. How to do this, how to do that; not to use drugs or substances and things like that. But at the end of the day, I never really taught him to, If you feel uncomfortable doing something, don’t do it,” McNair told ABC News.
While McNair died in 2018, heatstroke is still an issue for athletes at all levels and even tragically claimed the life of former Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber III in June. In July, police in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, where Barber lived, said in a statement that Barber died of heatstroke and that his death was ruled an accident.
Heat illness often advances quickly in both football players and runners, according to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. Since 1995, on average three athletes a year have died of heatstroke.
With record-high temperatures across the country, everyone — even non-athletes — is at an increased risk. However, with the record-high temperatures and outdoor practices for fall sports, heatstroke has an increased risk in athletes but is often confused with heath exhaustion, McNair said.
“When you’re looking at heatstroke, the big difference is in the central nervous dysfunction. So what does that mean in layman’s terms? Basically, when people start showing altered mental status, they could be ranting hysterically, which is not their normal selves. That’s a sign of heatstroke. And all of the signs look different. But again, it’s not the normal behavior of the student athlete or the person having a heatstroke. That’s what the sign, that’s what those are telltale signs like, hey, this person, this person is usually a quiet person and now they are going on a rant,” McNair said.
Irrational behavior is one of the symptoms of heatstroke, according to the Mayo Clinic. Other symptoms could include high fever, dry, hot skin, shallow breathing, seizures and weak pulse.
According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s best to wear loose fitting clothing, drink lots of liquids to stay hydrated and to do strenuous activity during cooler parts of the day to prevent heatstroke.
McNair and Wilson hope to prevent other parents from suffering the same fate as them, and plan to have their foundation expand across the country.
“He was a gentleman. Everybody loved Jordan. And all he had to do was smile and every, any place he went he would just light up a room…He was the jokester. He just played a bunch of jokes and so on. Outside of the home, he was different, but inside the home he was a lovable guy, and some days we’d just be in the house, and be eating more than talking but just a gentle giant. That’s exactly what he was, a gentle giant, and he’s missed tremendously,” Tonya Wilson, Jordan’s mother, told ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. hiring slowed from its breakneck pace but remained robust in August, with the economy adding 315,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising to 3.7%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
The report comes one week after Fed Chair Jerome Powell triggered a stock sell-off and stoked recession fears with his vow to fight inflation with interest rate hikes “until the job is done.”
The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive borrowing cost increases in recent months as it tries to slash near-historic inflation by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn.
So far this year, however, employment has boomed. The robust hiring numbers have defied expectations and quieted fears of a major slowdown.
U.S. hiring far outpaced expectations in July, as the economy added a blockbuster 528,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.
The jobs added in July exceeded the already-robust hiring sustained over the first half of 2022, during which the economy added an average of 461,000 jobs each month.
Government data put out this week reinforced evidence that the jobs market remains strong. Job openings rose in July after falling for three consecutive months, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, which showed job openings on the last day of July had jumped to 11.2 million from 11 million the month prior.
The labor market has withstood the Fed’s effort to slow the economy, even as the central bank tries to bring down inflation in part by cutting demand for workers and slowing wage increases, AnnElizabeth Konkel, a senior economist with Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News.
At meetings in June and July, the central bank increased its benchmark interest rate 0.75% each time — dramatic hikes last matched in 1994.
“We aren’t seeing the employer demand get tamped down,” Konkel said. “Your interpretation of it in a macro sense depends on what hat you’re wearing.”
“If you’re a worker and see a strong labor market, that means you have choices,” she added. “You might be able to negotiate a higher wage or flexibility on work location. If you’re the Fed, it means your job just got tougher.”
