Made In America Commitment By USA President
And during my presidency, our economy has now created 7.4 million jobs, more jobs created in 13 months than at any time in our history. And we learned that in February the unemployment rate fell to 3.8% - from 6.4% the day I took office, from 2021, which is the fastest decline in the world. recorded history unemployment rate thanks to all of you. And, by the way, before the passage of the US bailout, the Congressional Budget Office had not forecast that our unemployment rate would reach 3.8% at any time throughout the decade. The Americans are back to work. You know, the job gains in February were spread across all sectors, from construction to retail to manufacturing to leisure and hospitality. The decline in the unemployment rate was also widespread. In fact, the unemployment rate among workers without a high school diploma fell to 4.3%, the lowest on record since we kept records. 4.3 percent. It's unbelievable that workers' weekly wages increased in February. People in working-class sectors like transportation and warehousing have seen some of the biggest wage gains. This is what growing a bottom-up, middle-out economy looks like. Because of the progress we've made in the fight against COVID, Americans can not only get back to work, but they can go to the office and safely fill our great downtown cities again and create more commerce. With 75% of American adults fully immunized and hospitalizations down 77%, most Americans can safely remove their masks, return to work and move on. You know, we've been through two of the toughest years this nation has ever had. The pandemic has been punitive, as many of you know. And some of you may know this from a personal perspective. Maybe you lost someone in this process; you got up this morning and looked at an empty chair. Well, it's been punishing, but we're coming back. Look, our economy has rebounded faster than expected, but the pandemic has meant companies have struggled to hire enough workers to maintain and produce in their factories. The pandemic has also disrupted global supply chains. When factories close, it takes longer to make goods, to get them to the warehouse, and to get them to the store, and prices go up. Take a look at the cars. Last year, there weren't enough semiconductors to make all the cars people wanted to buy. They had a lot more money in their savings accounts and in their paychecks, but they weren't able to go out and spend it on their hobbies because of COVID. And the price of automobiles, for example, has risen dramatically, with more people looking for them and fewer being made. And when we do that, when we try to make sure that we make them again in the United States of America, so few are made, we make a lot more cars and you drive the prices down; the supply chain is fulfilled. Investment in America to rebuild roads, bridges, airports, ports. We invest in innovation in America. That's exactly what we do. Look, as a result, we're seeing more jobs, more hope, and we're also seeing something else: the rebirth of pride, the rebirth of the pride that comes from stamping "Made in America" products. And we are seeing the revitalization of American manufacturing. And that's what I want to talk about a bit in the next few minutes. Today, companies are choosing to build new factories when just a few years ago they would have built them overseas. They invest right here in America. On this very stage, we were standing in front of Intel, the Chairman of the Board of Intel was here. He announced a $20 billion investment to build a mega semiconductor site outside of Columbus, Ohio, creating 10,000 new high-paying jobs. Some of that went to construction jobs, but for full-time jobs, the average salary in those places will be $135,000 a year. And if Congress passes the Bipartisan Innovation Act, Intel is ready to increase its investment from $20 billion to $100 billion. You know, like I said, we invented the semiconductor, but we don't make them and companies have announced investments totaling more than $100 billion in the electric vehicle industry for the future, from iconic companies like Ford, GM's production of new electric vehicles; Tesla, our nation's largest electric vehicle maker; innovate and inspire start-ups like Rivian, building electric trucks; Proterra, manufacturer of electric buses. Last month, rare earths-only MP Materials, the only rare earths mine in the United States, announced a $700 million investment by 2025 that will have fully covered that it will have a chain of 100% national end-to-end supply of magnets used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and defense systems. They invest that money here in the United States. Made in America battery-electric locomotives in history. And guess what? They are built in western Pennsylvania. All told, the economy has created 423,000 new manufacturing jobs in America, paying decent wages, just since I took office.
