Directions: Read the summary, watch the video and answer the discussion questions below. To read the transcript of the video above, click here.
Summary: With millions of people still out of work during the pandemic, Friday’s mediocre jobs report puzzled many analysts who expected hundreds of thousands more new jobs.
- Analysts expected hundreds of thousands more new jobs to have been created as the U.S. emerges from pandemic lockdown measures and consumers return to spending.
- President Joe Biden has made the case that additional federal spending on infrastructure and other programs could help add jobs and help the economy recover more quickly.
- Some critics, however, believe that stimulus checks and other federal programs like unemployment insurance benefits have made returning to work less attractive for some potential new employees.
Discussion:
Warm up questions: Have your students identify the 5Ws and an H:
- Who is interviewed in this piece and what are their backgrounds?
- Why did experts expect more new jobs in the month of April?
- What are some of the reasons these experts think the jobs report isn’t worth panicking over?
- How does the Biden administration hope to stimulate more hiring and a faster growing economy?
- When do the experts interviewed here expect more workers to help fill the demand for work in the market?
Then have students share with the class or through a Learning Management System (LMS).
Focus question: What actions do you think local officials could take to help boost hiring and the local economy?
Media literacy: Why do you think the producers chose to interview the two experts in this piece? What perspectives do you think they represent?
Dig Deeper:
- To understand how COVID has affected the economy over the past year, you can try this Kahoot quiz made last year.
- You might also want to check out this Daily News Lesson about the entertainment industry, one of the hardest hit during lock-down measures and the one that might have the most difficult path to recovery.
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