May's jobs report shows employers are still struggling to find enough workers as the economy quickly reopens. President Joe Biden says the latest jobs report is a sign the economy is going well. "Jobs are up. Wages are up. Manufacturing is up. Growth is up. People gaining health care coverage is up. And small business confidence is up. America is finally on the move again." His comments came Friday after the latest report showed U.S. employers added 559,000 jobs in May. It's an improvement over April's sluggish gain but it fell short of economists' forecasts. The report also showed that companies are still struggling to find enough workers as the economy rapidly recovers from the pandemic recession.
On Wall Street, stocks finished the week on an up note, with all three major indices closing in positive territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he is hoping to improve deeply damaged relations with the United States when he holds his first summit with President Joe Biden later this month. The face-to-face meeting in Geneva on June 16th comes amid the biggest crisis in ties between the two countries in years with tensions high over issues including hacking allegations, human rights and claims of election meddling. Putin claims Russia has no disagreements with the United States. He says the U.S. wants to hold back Russia's development and talk about it publicly. He also suggested that European nations should pay for Russian gas in euros rather than dollars, part of a wider effort by the country to reduce its reliance on the U.S. currency. For more on these stories and the rest of the day's news, visit our website. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA News.