aleve it, and see what s possible. today the first friday of the month is when the federal government releases the latest jobs report. and it details hiring and unemployment in the past month, august, and the top line number was not great. the economy added just 235,000 jobs last month. that s almost 500,000 jobs fewer than the 720,000 that economists expected. while that might be disappointing, it wasn t surprising as the president pointed out in his remarks this morning. there is no question that the delta variant is why today s job report isn t stronger. i know people were looking, and i was, hoping for a higher number. but next week i ll lay out the next steps that are going to we are going to need to combat the delta variant to address some of those fears and
rachel: welcome back to fox & friends. a disappointing jobs report as august adds less than half of what experts predicted. but, instead of blaming the severe labor short damage on extended unemployment benefits. president biden says there is a different cause. no question the delta variant is why today s job report isn t stronger. i know people were looking and i know i was looking for a higher number. too many have not gotten vableg sin nateed and it s creating a lot of unease around our economy and kitchen tables. rachel: here to react is lydia hu. welcome, lid i can t. good morning. rachel: is he right? is it about the delta variant or about his policies that ren couraging people not to go to work? in fact, paying people not to go to work? well, good morning, rachel, yeah, that is, of course, the debate. this is a monster mega myth in the jobs report.
there s no question the delta variant is why today s job report isn t stronger. i know people were looking, and i was, hoping for a higher number. everyone was hoping for a higher number. joining us now the labor secretary marty walsh, the former mayor of boston. thank you very much for coming into the situation room. it s exciting to be in here. jobs numbers very disappointing. why do you think it happened? because everybody was expecting 700,000, 750,000. i think a lot of economists were saying the number was going to be high. we overperformed. i think when you look at the numbers today you can t look at the recovery in one month. you have to look at it over a period of time. the president just said about the delta variant in the last three months the largest area of job gain we had in the united states was in hospitality, leisure, and restaurants. and this month we had zero gain there. so, you can see a direct correlation between the delta variant and what s going on. th
the face of the continuing delta surge. it is different from the way things were last winter. there is no question that the delta variant is why today s job report isn t stronger. and i know people were looking and i was hoping for a higher number. but next week i ll lay out the next steps that are going to we re going to need to combat the delta variant. to address some of the fears and concerns. i want to talk about how we ll further protect our schools. our businesses and our economy and our families from the threat of delta. as we continue to fight the delta variant, the american rescue plan that we passed continues to support families and businesses an communities. even with some of the benefits that were provided, are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend thaose benefits an the federal resources from the rescue plan to do so. not more federal taxes, state taxes, but they have the federal
jobs even in the face of this continuing delta surge. the strength in our economy very different from the way things were last winter. there is no question the delta variant is why today s job report isn t stronger. i know people were looking and i was hoping for a higher number. but next week i ll lay out the next steps that are going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of the fears and concerns. i want to talk about how we ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta. as we continue to fight the delta variant, the american rescue plan we pass continues to support families, businesses, and communities. even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the rescue plan to do so. not more federal taxes, state