After the July jobs report showed the biggest job growth in nearly a year, the Biden administration urged Americans to be vaccinated to avoid health and economic threats from Delta variants.
"We can't let the situation get out of control," U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in an interview. "our economy is now at a vulnerable point. Things are moving in the right direction: people are traveling, tourism is recovering, manufacturing is running, job growth is happening-it will be difficult to go backwards. "
Non-farm payrolls rose by 943000 in July, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4 per cent. Although the report exceeded expectations, there are still concerns that Delta variants may slow the economic recovery. Some companies have postponed plans for employees to return to the office and have restored local mask rules in some parts of the United States.
Walsh says he and President Biden support the company's efforts to force its employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Enhanced unemployment benefits expire in early September, but many states have already cancelled $300 a week. Walsh said he doesn't think these benefits have stopped people from going back to work.
According to the Century Foundation, when the pandemic unemployment benefit program expires, about 7.5 million Americans may lose their unemployment benefits, and millions of self-employed and casual workers will no longer be eligible for assistance.
"Delta variants can change a lot of things. We saw the president extend the deportation ban a few days ago. If we didn't see a peak in the Delta variant, he wouldn't have to do it, "Walsh said.
While Walsh said he would like to see more job growth in September, he said the reopening of schools would provide a more boost to the labour market than when benefits expire.
"the Delta variant may cause some damage there," Walsh said. "the past three months have been really strong and solid. There were 938000 jobs last month. There are 945000 jobs this month. If we want to maintain this momentum, we just need to keep a close eye on this variant of Delta and make sure we don't see the peak of the epidemic nationwide. "