Marty Walsh, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, recently released a statement based on the December 2021 Employment Situation Report.

Walsh said that this was the first time unemployment numbers have been under 4% since the beginning of the pandemic, along with being the biggest one-year drop in the unemployment rate in history.

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 199,000 jobs in the month of December, and the unemployment rate was 3.9%, down from 4.2% in November,” Walsh said in a statement. “With strong, steady job growth every month of the Biden-Harris administration, we added 6.4 million jobs in 2021, reaching 84% of the jobs lost at the start of the pandemic recovered, and empowering workers to secure higher wages, especially for low wage workers.” 

Walsh went on to state that the administration is committed to cultivating job training programs and career services in order to achieve equity and diversity in the workforce.

“In the Department of Labor, we are focused on building an inclusive recovery that lifts up all workers and communities, and that means identifying and addressing persistent inequities as reflected in an increase in Black unemployment in December,” he said. “We are investing in equity and diversity in job training programs and career services, strengthening health and safety, wage and anti-discrimination protections for the most vulnerable workers, and making sure the president’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law creates good jobs for every community.”

Walsh added that they were “devoted” to inspiring workers throughout the country in each initiative that the organization pursues.