President Joe Biden told the largest federation of labor unions on Tuesday that he's working to rebuild the U.S. economy around workers - while at one point falsely declaring that families have less debt and more savings than when he took office.
The speech before the AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia was the president's attempt to reset the terms of the debate on the economy as his own approval ratings have slid while consumer prices - and the cost of gasoline - have surged.
'Since I took office, with your help, families are carrying less debt nationwide. They have more savings nationwide,' Biden said.
But despite the president's pronouncements, data from the Federal Reserve shows that household debt has increased by over $1.5trillion since Biden took office in January 2021.
And the country's credit card debt is at record highs as well after jumping nearly 20% during the month of April to $1.103 trillion. The previous pre-pandemic record was $1.1 trillion.
Americans' savings accounts have also shrunk by more than $9,000 over the past year - from $73,100 in 2021 to $62,086 in 2022 - according to a survey from wealth management company Northwestern Mutual.
The country's current economic outlook is largely due to inflation, which is at a more than 40-year high. This has caused voters to sour on the economy, despite a mixed recovery after 2020's pandemic-induced downturn that has led to robust hiring and a healthy 3.6 percent unemployment rate.
The president on Tuesday tried...
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