Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Biden touts manufacturing, union jobs in battleground Ohio

Published 05/06/2022, 05:04 AM
Updated 05/07/2022, 06:30 AM
© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on economic growth, jobs, and deficit reduction in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on economic growth, jobs, and deficit reduction in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland

HAMILTON, Ohio (Reuters) - President Joe Biden boasted on Friday of a U.S. manufacturing surge and introduced a new small business program in the key swing state of Ohio during his sixth visit there as president

Biden was buoyed by strong numbers earlier in the day that showed the U.S. added 428,000 jobs in April https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-job-growth-solid-april-unemployment-rate-steady-36-2022-05-06, more than expected and the 12th straight month of job gains in excess of 400,000. Manufacturing has seen the largest 15-month job gain in 15 years, he noted.

"These manufacturing jobs matter because they fuel our economic growth. They fuel exports. And, as we've seen, they can fuel innovation," Biden, a Democrat, said after touring United Performance Metals, a metal manufacturer near Cincinnati.

The president announced an initiative to encourage large companies to adopt an emerging technology known as additive manufacturing.

Driven by 3D printing, the technology allows complex shapes to be built up in layers from particles of plastics or metal. It is viewed by the administration as a sort of innovation that will enable U.S. manufacturers to flourish and create jobs.

The initiative, dubbed AM Forward, is a voluntary program. Companies sign a public commitment to increase use of the technology and also rely on small- to medium-sized U.S.-based supply companies.

GE Aviation, Siemens Energy, Raytheon Technologies (NYSE:RTX) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) are the initial participants, the official said.

Biden used the visit to call on Congress to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which aims to boost manufacturing in the United States, particularly the production of semiconductor chips.

No longer a 'Rust Belt,' American manufacturing areas are home to smaller companies building chips and other critical components that can help keep prices down, Biden said, which could boost U.S. competitiveness with China.

While Americans are worried about rising prices, more manufacturing facilities across the United States will help, Biden said.

"It matters a great deal, because the pandemic and the economic crisis that we inherited and Putin's war in Ukraine have all shown the vulnerability when we become too reliant on things made overseas," he said.

Biden gave a shout out to labor unions that organize workers in many of the companies involved in the new initiative, calling them "the single best workers in the world."

Biden is facing headwinds as he tries to help his fellow Democrats stave off a Republican takeover of Congress in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Inflation is at a 40-year high and gasoline prices are soaring, weighing down Biden's job approval ratings, and Republicans frequently attack Biden's handling of the economy.

Former President Donald Trump took Ohio in 2016 and 2020 in part because of his appeal to Rust Belt voters tired of seeing jobs disappear.

The trip was Biden's sixth to Ohio since taking office in January 2021.

In recent days, he has made more overt political remarks as he girds for the five months of political campaigning. On Wednesday he sharply criticized Trump's devoted followers, referring to them by the MAGA acronym for Trump's Make America Great Again slogan.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on economic growth, jobs, and deficit reduction in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

In primaries this week Trump-backed Republican J.D. Vance won the nomination for a U.S. Senate seat while Democratic incumbent Representative Shontel Brown handily defeated progressive candidate Nina Turner in the U.S. congressional district which includes Cleveland.

(This story corrects paragraph 7 to add Raytheon (NYSE:RTN))

Latest comments

what's sad is nonfarm production was down 7.5%, these job numbers will not last, I'm happy people gave jobs, but workers need to be doing productive work. Inflation and Covid restrictions made that much more difficult
down 7.5% in Q1
The USA lost its manufacturing in the 1990s and it is never coming back
Biden is a joke! He is incompetent!!!
full of C R A P
he'll 4get he's in Ohio.
filling taxes correctly can empower job growth. and how about knocking on your neighbor's door the Liberals and Democrats and Republicans and asking them if they have filed thier taxes from previous tax evasions! we cant keep putting pressure on our people to work so hard when the wages are increasing.
aren't ***
so much wrong I don't know where to start. Perhaps the leaky bucket theory?
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.