By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - President Joe Biden pledged Friday to "act fast" on getting his $1.9 trillion stimulus through Congress, saying it was "very clear" the economy was in trouble following a weaker-than-expected rebound in the labor market last month.
"It's very clear our economy is still in trouble," Biden said during televised remarks on Friday. "We added just 6,000 private sector jobs in the economy last month ... at time when 10 million people are out of work," he said, following Friday's jobs report showing just 49,000 jobs were created in January.
This "once in a century virus has decimated the economy ... we're still in the teeth of this pandemic as January was the single deadliest month of the whole pandemic." Biden added: "I'm going to act. I'm going to act fast."
The president pledged to go it alone if efforts to win over the support of the 10 Republican votes needed in the Senate to pass the bill end up delaying passage of the fiscal package.
The Senate approved a budget bill early Friday, paving the way for passage of Biden's "American Rescue Plan."
If its a choice "between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a negotiation, or compromising in a bill ... I'm going to help the American people who are hurting now," Biden said. "That's why I'm so grateful to the House and Senate for moving so fast on the American rescue plan."