For Immediate Release
Monday, January 18, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org
How It Started vs. How It’s Going: One Year Into Biden’s Presidency and His Economic Plan Is Working
PHOENIX — Since President Joe Biden took office one year ago this week, Arizona’s economy has continued to build back better thanks to a robust economic recovery plan that passed without the support of a single congressional Republican.
Despite staunch opposition from GOP Governor Doug Ducey and Arizona House Republicans, President Biden and Democrats’ American Rescue Plan has gotten tens of thousands of Arizonans back to work, supported thousands of small businesses, slashed child poverty, and bolstered Arizona’s state and local budgets — and as we approach the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, it’s worth looking back on the last twelve months and recognizing how far we’ve come.
When President Biden took office:
- The national unemployment rate hovered around 6.4%;
- Arizona’s unemployment rate was at a lofty 6.7%;
- Each week, 886,000 Americans were filling for unemployment for the first time;
- One in every six Arizona small businesses were closed; and
- The U.S. economy was only creating an average of 60,000 jobs per month.
Today, President Biden’s economic plan is working as:
- The national unemployment rate fell to a pandemic-low 3.9% last month;
- Arizona’s unemployment rate has fallen to a decade low of 4.7%;
- Initial unemployment claims have fallen dramatically to 230,000 new claims each week;
- New small business applications are up 30%; and
- In the last year, the U.S. economy has added an average of 537,000 jobs per month.
“In the past year, while Arizona Republicans sat on the sidelines and stubbornly opposed any and all attempts to help our state recover from the pandemic’s economic downturn, President Biden’s unyielding leadership has translated into the best record of job creation in American history,” said ADP spokesperson Hannah Goss. “Soon, we’ll start to see the long-term impact of his historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the generation of jobs it will create while building an Arizona for the future. While there is still more work to be done to continue our pandemic economic recovery efforts, these significant accomplishments are a testament to the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to delivering results for Arizona families.”
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