and it's getting america back to work, back on its feet. >> reporter: the u.s. economy adding only 199,000 jobs in december, even before omicron's big surge, making it the weakest jobs report of 2021. but biden is looking on the bright side, highlighting how unemployment fell to 3.9%, the best level since the pandemic began. >> the sharpest one-year drop in unemployment in the united states history. >> reporter: overall, the u.s. economy now has about 6.4 million more jobs than it did at the start of 2021, but it is still 3.6 million jobs short of prepandemic levels. >> we brought down the poverty rate and went from 20 million people on unemployment rolls a year ago to under 2 million people on unemployment rolls today. >> reporter: while acknowledging inflation is still a persistent problem, biden highlighted an impressive increase in wages. >> desk clerks, line cooks,