Following a blowout jobs report, Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC on Friday that the Trump administration will have more “good faith” discussions with Democrats about coronavirus relief.
“Those discussions are ongoing,” Pence said when asked on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” if the surprisingly strong economic numbers ended the need to negotiate with Democrats on additional pandemic relief.
“We’re going to work in good faith to put the interests of the American families and American businesses first,” Pence said.
“But what’s absolutely essential about any additional recovery package is that we have the kind of pro-growth policies that President Trump has been advancing.”
Pence spoke shortly after the May jobs report showed a stunning rise in employment and a decline in the jobless rate, defying expectations and suggesting an economic recovery from pandemic is underway.
The U.S. added 2.5 million jobs in May and the unemployment rate fell to 13.3% from 14.7% in April. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting nonfarm payrolls to drop by 8.333 million and the unemployment rate to rise to 19.5%.
President Donald Trump immediately took a victory lap on the numbers, calling them “stupendous,” “joyous,” “STUNNING” and “INCREDIBLE” in a series of tweets. He plans to extend the celebration with a Rose Garden news conference at 10 a.m. ET.
Despite the administration’s optimistic tone, its insistence on pursuing further aid indicates that there are lingering concerns about the economy even after May’s gains.
Pence said a payroll tax cut remains a necessity for sustaining an economic recovery and added that “we’re always mindful of inflation” in an era where the federal government has spent trillions of dollars as part of its efforts to blunt the impact of the virus.
More than 108,000 people in the U.S. have died from Covid-19 and more than 1.87 million cases have been counted, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Although hot spots like New York City have been posting steady declines in new cases and hospitalizations, U.S. cases have been on a gradual rise since Memorial Day.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to get the American people through this pandemic, and we’ve done that and we’ll continue to do that for families and small businesses, particularly businesses that have been severely impacted in our inner cities,” Pence said.
Those include businesses “that have been subject to rioting and looting in recent days” amid the civil unrest following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The vice president also took a shot at Trump’s competitor in the 2020 election, saying the “only thing” that could threaten a recovery would be electing Joe Biden in November.
