Biden says rising wages are a sign his economic agenda is working

Republicans and business groups claim that the enhanced federal unemployment benefits in Biden s American Rescue Plan, his signature domestic accomplishment, are to blame for a labor shortage that has forced corporations like McDonald s and Bank of America to raise their minimum hourly wage. Some economists fear increasing wages could lead to further inflation.

Biden flatly rejected this view of the economy in his speech Thursday: When it comes to the economy we re building, rising wages aren t a bug, they re a feature, he said. The president went on to renew his call for Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Biden credited the American Rescue Plan and his ambitious vaccination program with jump-starting a U.S. economy battered by the Covid pandemic. The bill passed with no GOP votes, but several Republicans later sought to take credit for it with their constituents despite having voted against it.

via www.cnbc.com