WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden appeared in the White House briefing room for a victory lap celebrating a rosy jobs report and resolution to the strike that had temporarily paralyzed ports along the Eastern seaboard, underscoring the economic tailwinds that have coalesced behind Kamala Harris in her election against Donald Trump.

It was Biden’s first appearance at the briefing room podium, and the president struck out at critics who “time and again” said his policies were not working.

“Some of the other team are still saying they’re going to make things worse — but we’ve proven them wrong,” Biden said. “The simple fact is: we’ve gone from an economy in crisis to literally having the strongest economy in the world,” he continued.

Friday’s jobs report, which beat all analyst estimates and pushed the unemployment rate down to 4.1%, and the port pact are the latest in a drumbeat of good economic news for Harris. Stock markets are at records, inflation is easing and the Fed has begun cutting interest rates.

The economy, and affordability, remains a core issue of the 2024 presidential race, with Trump pinning blame for high grocery prices and borrowing costs on Harris and Biden. Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee called the jobs data a “superb report.”

“You really couldn’t ask realistically for a better report for the economy — coupled with finding out that the port strike is not going to be an extended matter, and that at least for months, this is not going to be an issue,” Goolsbee told Bloomberg Television Friday. “Those are two pieces of very good news.”

Trump and Harris have rolled out dueling economic plans in recent weeks, with Trump calling for tax cuts and sprawling tariffs to push supply chains to the U.S., and Harris calling the tariffs a sales tax. She’s pitching an “opportunity economy” that includes tax increases for corporations, an expansion of a tax credit for business startups and expanded child benefit payments.

The hope for Democrats is that voter perceptions of the economy — which has been an albatross for the Biden-Harris administration as voters bristle at high inflation that has punished incumbents in elections worldwide — rebound to reflect generally strong topline data.

“Many people predicted that we would not be able to do this — have this kind of recovery and have incredible job growth while keeping the unemployment rate low, while bringing down inflation and interest rates,” Julie Su, the acting Secretary of Labor, told Bloomberg Television Friday. “All of those things are now happening.”

Biden cautioned that work remains, including recovery from Hurricane Helene, a storm he says will cost billions. Biden repeated on Friday his call for Congress to pass a funding package to support the recovery.

Trump’s campaign said that the report showed a reduction in manufacturing jobs and suggested the economy was primarily benefitting immigrants, while noting the continued pressure of inflation.

“Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have built back broke, losing 34,000 manufacturing jobs in just the past two months as foreign countries benefit from Harris’ weak economic policies, and Harris’ open border policies have destroyed 825,000 jobs for native-born Americans while 1.2 million foreign-born workers gained employment,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Harris remains underwater on the economy as an issue in her race against Trump, though she has closed the gap since Biden dropped out.

Just 33% of voters in battleground states, say the national economy is on the right track, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of likely voters in the seven top battleground states published last week.

But that’s up from 31% the month prior and 28% in the last poll before Biden dropped out, previous waves of the poll found.

Trump holds a lead among battleground voters asked who they trust more to manage the economy — 49% say Trump to 45% who say Harris, the poll found. But that also has narrowed.

Trump led Biden 51-37% when respondents were asked who they trust more on the economy. That 14-point gap is now four points for Harris.

The resolution of the port strike also heads off what could have cascaded into a fresh supply chain crisis that would have exacerbated voter concerns about costs.

“The most important thing — our ports are back open, our dock workers are back at work, American consumers won’t see really any effect of this at all,” White House National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said Friday in an appearance on Bloomberg Television.

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(With assistance from Michael McKee and Katie Greifeld.)

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