"I
think we have a long way to go to recover from the pandemic,"
Raimondo said on CBS' "Face the Nation" program. "There are so
many Americans still struggling" and 8 million fewer jobs than
there were before the pandemic, she said.
U.S. job growth unexpectedly slowed last month, likely
restrained by shortages of workers and raw materials. Nonfarm
payrolls increased by only 266,000 jobs, well below the nearly 1
million jobs economists expected and a sharp contrast to steady
increases in growth from January to March.
"We are making bold moves, but there's a long way to go and we
have to be there to help Americans find jobs," Raimondo said of
efforts by the administration of President Joe Biden, a
Democrat, to boost the economy.
Women have been particularly hard-hit during the pandemic as
many are clustered in industries hit hardest - lower-skilled
service jobs, she said. Lack of affordable child care also hits
women hard, and with schools closed their choices were curtailed
further.
Raimondo rejected some Republicans' contention that people are
reluctant to return to work because they are receiving
unemployment insurance, saying nothing in the data suggests
that.
"The number one reason now that people aren't going back to work
is what you said: fear. Or if they can't find childcare or
schools are still closed," Raimondo said.
Raimondo said on Friday that the shortage in semiconductors was
a factor in April's jobs report and on Sunday she said she was
focused on finding ways to produce them in the United States to
avoid similar supply disruptions in the future.
Biden's jobs package calls for a $50 billion investment into the
supply chain to make the country less vulnerable, she said.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Grant McCool)
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