Today’s GDP data are further proof of the remarkable progress we’ve made in jump-starting our economy from one of the darkest moments in its history. With today’s numbers, the U.S. economy has now made up the losses of the last 18 months and surpassed the pre-pandemic GDP peak. In doing so, we’ve grown our economy the first half of this year at the fastest rate in almost four decades, created three million new jobs, and halved new jobless claims.

Simply put, because of President Biden’s leadership, America is on the move again. This isn’t an accident: It’s the result of a successful campaign against the virus and an economic policy that has been focused squarely on getting help to the working and middle-class Americans who need it the most – ensuring that we’re rebuilding our economy in a way that puts them first. This wasn’t preordained – in fact, just one year ago, CBO predicted real GDP would be 3% below its pre-pandemic peak at this time. But, thanks to shots in arms and checks in pockets, we’ve been able to far outstrip that and power a recovery twice as fast as after the last recession.

That’s the story of this President’s economic plan: taking us from the worst time for our economy in history to one of the best. And we’re seeing signs of that across the economy. More than 600,000 jobs created each month since the President took office, the fastest pace for a new Administration in history. New unemployment claims slashed in half. Independent forecasts of economic growth doubled for 2021.

We still have work to do to build our economy back better, and we can’t be complacent when too many Americans are still facing the squeeze of economic uncertainty. That’s why the President and his team are going to continue focusing squarely on curbing this virus and getting our communities the economic support they need to thrive. And it’s why the President has put forward a historic, and bipartisan, plan to rebuild our infrastructure and invest in our global competitiveness, which cleared an important hurdle last night. And it’s why he’s working with Democrats to deliver on additional support for our middle class that will create a fairer, more sustainable, and stronger economy.

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