The release of the April jobs report has the White House in full-blown spin mode. It was so bad that an economics reporter on CNBC struggled to make sense of it all:
The April jobs report was so bad @CNBC had to double check the number to make sure they read it correctly. pic.twitter.com/I7AHf1jUP2
— Mike Berg (@MikeKBerg) May 7, 2021
Naturally the Biden administration can count on many in the media to help explain things in a helpful way, and on CNN one reason for slow job growth was offered. Economics commentator Catherine Rampell explained a reason 260k jobs were added when some economists predicted an increase of one million:
CNN “economic commentator” Catherine Rampell floats the idea that one “factor" for why the job growth was so slow in the latest report is because people are worried about “the risk of, frankly, getting assaulted at work if you tell a customer to wear a mask.”
Seriously. pic.twitter.com/xXpnA61e6e
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) May 7, 2021
The spin on the abysmal jobs report just keeps pushing the envelope.
You can't make this stuff up. https://t.co/0BHwKKxgTz
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) May 8, 2021
And yet it’s real, because THIS is CNN.
Where do they find these people..?
— Don Carter (@d1carter) May 7, 2021
The amount of moronic journalists is never ending. https://t.co/USIq4PORge
— Missy (@missymohum) May 8, 2021
FFS, taffy doesn't stretch that far. https://t.co/qiFxxcsLpH
— Pissed Pat (@Pissed_Pat) May 8, 2021
Please where does CNN get these people ? They aren’t working because they don’t want to. Anyone who wants a job can have one. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/9EwVOkjmiL
— Margaret Barton (Susie) (@susie_margaret) May 8, 2021
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Rampell defended her comments on CNN this way:
You should look at some at the links in this thread.
Low-paying service jobs are often risky and unpleasant; they have only become more so in the past year, because workers have been enlisted into the stupid and sometimes violent anti-mask culture wars. https://t.co/vNd8V4w4td— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) May 7, 2021
I think you’d agree, if we’re assessing why the job numbers were off by 750,000, fear of being assaulted by an anti-mask customer would be very far down the list of reasons why.
— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) May 7, 2021
Question is why people might be hesitant to return to work
Answer is host of factors, incl low pay weighed vs considerations like childcare & how risky or unpleasant these jobs are/are perceived to be. High-profile fights w customers are among reasons these jobs are seen as risky— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) May 7, 2021
A more likely reason so many aren’t returning to work is because they’re getting paid not to.