US prez election: Can Harris turn Biden's economic record to her advantage?

A key question is looming for Vice President Kamala Harris as she edges closer to gaining the Democratic presidential nomination: Can she turn the Biden-Harris economic record into a political advantage in a way that President Joe Biden failed to do? In some ways, her task would seem straightforward: The administration oversaw a vigorous rebound from the pandemic recession, one that shrank the US unemployment rate to a half-century low of 3.4 per cent in early 2023 far below the painful 6.4 per cent rate when Biden and Harris took office in 2021. The rate stayed below 4 per cent for more than two years, the longest such stretch since the 1960s. Boosted by the administration's USD 1.9 trillion stimulus package, robust economic growth sent demand for workers soaring, forcing employers to jack up wages. Paychecks rose particularly fast for lower-paid workers, thereby narrowing income inequality. Soon, though, clogged supply chains caused parts shortages, as demand for furniture, cars,