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'This is not March 2020': Psaki dismisses fears of an economic slowdown amid COVID surge

Responding to concerns about the potential for rising COVID-19 cases to derail economic progress, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday that Americans should not expect further lockdowns of businesses or schools. She added that because of the progress made by the administration, “we are not turning back the clock.”

Video transcript

- The jobs report is getting a lot of praise today, but with the Delta variant surging, should Americans expect an economic slowdown? What's the message from the White House to ordinary Americans who might be a little nervous moving forward?

JEN PSAKI: Well, I think first, the message is this is not March 2020, or even January 2021. We're not going to lock down our economy or our schools, because our country is in a much stronger place than when we took office thanks to the president's leadership in vaccinating the American people and getting economic relief to those who need it. And I would say, yes, the top line number is very encouraging, but there are also very encouraging trends we saw in the numbers and encouraging numbers-- encouraging data including wages going up.

So there were a number of pieces of data in there that were positive. But we are not going back. We are not turning back the clock. And as I noted earlier, the other message is, we've been preparing, like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, for this moment and the potential that there would be ups and downs in our recovery, there would be ups and downs as we fight the virus. And that's why a number of the programs were designed to extend for several months beyond this summer.