>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. ♪ kristen: good afternoon. you are watching "getting answers." we ask experts your questions every day at 3:00 p.m. to get answers for you in real time. today we have lucy caldwell, senior advisor, to discuss the new political party and their message to voters. it is the weekend. what you can do in the bay area other than outside lands. some of the events even include are adorable four-legged friends. first the jobs report is out and it is shattering expectations. joining us live is the senior economics advisor at the cornell ilr school. you are also the former commissioner of the u.s. bureau of labor statistics.

thank you for being here. here are the perfect person to discuss the latest jobs report. appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. >> let's get to the numbers. employers added 520,000 jobs in july -- 528,000 in july. >> the expectations was for something under 300,000. which is what we were getting lately. because of the actions of the fed and because of the slowing measured output recently, people expected that we would see a slow down in hiring, which would mean fewer jobs created and even possibly a tick up in the unemployment rate. >> do we know what types of jobs were added? which industries? >> yes, we do. this jobs report is actually

really interesting. it combines a survey of households with a survey of companies. from the survey of companies, we know which industries at a jobs. -- added jobs. the strongest jobs were leisure and hospitality and professional services and health care. those three areas added the most jobs. >> is that surprising, is not expected, to have the growth in -- that expected, to have the growth in those industries? >> not surprising at all. these are three industries where we have had a lot of growth over the past couple of decades. these industries have been adding a lot of jobs. they were also heavily impacted by the pandemic. so they have ways to come back to reach pre-pandemic levels. >> there are headlines about layoffs. how do we explain the job demand?

should we not be worried about possible layoffs? >> well, so, our economy is very dynamic. we always have a fair number of layoffs, even during the best of times. and right now, as measured in a number of ways, we actually have a pretty low layoff rate. so generally speaking, we are not having more job loss than usual. we are having less. however, that doesn't mean that it's not a crisis for anybody who loses their job. we always worry about that because of the cost to the individual and their family from job loss. >> overall, what does this jobs report say about the economy? if you could specifically talk about the fed's interest rate hikes as well. >> so the fed is trying to achieve a soft landing.

so we are now growing at a pace and have been for the past six months or more that is not sustainable over the long run. we are going to run out of people, right? can we have also had this -- and we have also had disinflation recently. what the fed is trying to do is get back to normal levels of interest rates, but also of economic activity. so that we will be on a kind of slow and steady path going forward, rather than overshooting what we can possibly do, which can cause more inflation, and require a recession to really turn things around. so the fed has been trying to aim for the soft landing and that means -- their main tool is to make money more expensive. raise interest rates, --

income, and reduce the kind of cash in the onyone haswatching carefully as interest rates rise, you get cut backs in investments of all kinds and people are no longer able to buy houses that they might've been able to buy on lower interest rates. so all of this is intended to kind of slow things down a little bit. but this is kind of a blunt instrument. it's not easy to get it exactly right. the fed is working very hard to do that. but there's a lot of attention paid to this. have they done too much? have they not done enough? and that is part of the reason there's is so much focus on this report. do we see evidence of slowing? and if so, is it too much slowing? are we heading steeply into a recession?

we can certainly say there is no evidence of a falling off a cliff here. and the economy still has a lot of momentum. and so, i think it raises the prospects for the kind of soft landing that the fed is aiming for. there will be some people saying, the fed really has to slam the brakes on harder. but the challenge there is, i used to work for the federal reserve, and we used to say that the lags on monetary policy are long and variable. that is after they raise the interest rates, it takes a while for the economy to respond, and we don't know exactly how long it is going to take. and it's going to hit some industries more than others. >> we are coming out of a pandemic. just a few years ago, some people said recovery would be much more difficult.

what is your perspective, in light of this new jobs report that came out? >> so, let me say, i was one of those people who was very worried about us taking a long time to recover. if you interviewed me back then, i would've said -- look how long it took us to come out of the great recession, from the financial crisis. why would we think this is going to be any different? i think we now know at least two very important reasons why it was different -- one is that employers and of laying people off temporarily laid them off permanently, as they had done with most recent recessions, they laid them off temporarily and gave them temporary furloughs. they called them back more quickly. that is an important part of it. the other part is that our -- is that we, together, we chose

as a country tongolmeasures to p our economy able to respond. to keep it resilient and able to respond. so the policy measures that we took were hugely important. to get the kind of recovery we had. it meant it was faster and admit that it was -- it meant that it was more complete than it was in the last recession, and partly because our fiscal policy supported it much better. let me say, although we are back to the unemployment rate that we were at before the pandemic -- >> 3.5%, correct? >> yes. correct. that's right. the total number of jobs is about the same as it was before the pandemic. so those things are good. but remember, that was almost 2.5 years ago. this doesn't account for the increase in our population

during that time. and so, how can those numbers be the same, and yet we are behind? it is because we have a big increase in the number of people who are out of the labor force. so to really get back to where we were before, we need to be able to draw those folks back into the labor force. >> thank you so much for weighing in with your perspective on this. we appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. have a good weekend. >> have a great weekend. >> coming up -- a new political party has formed, called forward. the senior advisor joins us next, with a look at their

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>> the ford party, a third political party, has been launched, by andrew yang and new jersey governor christine todd whitman and x gop lawmaker david jolley. the question is, could it work? joining us live is the senior advisor for forward lucy caldwell,. thank you for making time for this interview. >> thanks for having me. great to be with you. >> we have to ask first and foremost, why was this political party formed? what were the main reasons for forming the specific party? >> well, i think one of the reasons is that nearly 70% of americans feel like they do not fit in either party we talk about those people about the

exhausted majority and a lot of us are in it and probably a lot of viewers are in it. nearly 70% of americans feel like neither of the two major parties resonates with them. so shouldn't we have more choices? we think we should. we are not just trying to form another party. we are trying to form a new party. we are going to do things differently and we hope people will join us. >> you mentioned it. you're going to do things differently. why would a democrat or a republican want to support it. what are you doing that would make someone want to join this party? >> sure, let me take that in two pievces -- you said, why would a democrat or republican want to join this party? there are a lot of reasons. but there are also many americans who do not feel like they are democrats or republicans. you want to a frame that is the

frame so many of us are stuck in. we are stuck in a dysfunctional relationship with our traditional two-party system. why would anyone, a democrat, a republican, an independent, which increasingly -- increasingly most americans are beginning to identify as an independent, is because we want to get away from the tribalism that has made politics toxic. even some people are choosing to still associate with an existing party, but joining the forward party doesn't mean you have to jettison your former political identity. most agree if you look at the party platforms of the two major parties, often you might look at -- neither of these fit me, both of them are driven by extremes, there platforms are dictated by rigid policy agendas that really do not resonate for most people in communities throughout the country. there's also another big problem.

there are all of these issues at the two major parties are fighting over constantly. and they are not fixing any of them. so being able to break away from that paradigm that is so dangerous and toxic is really important. our platform a simple -- we are going to build solutions to foster free people, thriving communities, and a vibrant democracy. i think that resonates with a lot of people. >> yeah, and so, with the ways our election work here -- our elections work here in the u.s., the winner takes all type of elections we have, we tend to end up with two political parties. how do you intend to win votes and get past that? >> you are talking primarily about what happens on the top of the ticket, presidential elections. >> yes, big picture here. >> yeah, but there are 500,000 elected offices throughout the country. there are also a lot of reforms

to reform the where democracy is structured to make it more responsive to people at the ballot box. californians are familiar with some of that. things like top two primaries. non partisan primaries. these are all changes that already happen in many states and are continuing to happen that will really negate any kind of argument about the spoiler effect and really will just be more responsive to what voters want. it's no secret that with a lot of these reforms, the two major parties are not that keen on them. because they threaten party power. and we are looking to break that up so that we are empowering people. not parties. >> and you did mention the spoiler -- there are some people that say that there is a concern that you're taking votes from other parties. what is your response to that? >> yes, we will be taking votes from other parties. that is the reason to build a

new party. we want to give people more choices. i would say, the people who are workers, long time allies of an existing political party -- this is a chance for you to compete in the market place of ideas, to try to make the case that your party is more deserving of votes than another party. the forward party or another party in the country. ultimately, when it comes down to it, competition of ideas is a good thing. it is good for voters to have choices. we do not owe the two major parties anything. now there's a different part of that question which may be part of what you're getting at. which is good to forward party accidentally empower extremists? we are being very careful about making sure that we are not in this cycle -- that we are being very strategic about where we focus our efforts and we are not engaging in efforts where we

think there's any risk that a political extremist or autocrat candidate might be helped by the forward party accidentally. we are a group of very seasoned political operatives and strategies. with policy blogs. trust me, we are aware of the landscape. but in terms of the we will take votes from other parties, down the road, i hope so. because i think voters should be able to maximize their expression of individual preferences at the ballot box. >> before you go, lucy, who and when will a forward candidate run for office? how soon could we see that? >> there actually are some independent candidates on the ballot in various places around the country who are already identifying as forward party candidates. likewise there are existing elected officials -- we are talking people like mayors,

school board members, state legislators -- who have gotten in touch with us, existing officeholders who have decided to re-identify and leave their party to become part of the forward party. i think that you will see us popping up in california and elsewhere very soon. >> lucy caldwell, thank you so much for your time today. appreciated. up next -- we are cruising into the weekend with a look at some of the fun events happening where you live. stay with us. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford,

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favorite, who's got every region of the area covered, johnny f. we love having you here. >> thanks for having me. let's find some stuff to do that is not outside lands. >> yes, what is going on in oakland, what do you have for us? >> this is tonight. it is called oakland first fridays. it is a huge event. nothing like anything we have in san francisco. this size and scale. it happens every first friday. they draw about 30,000 people and five blocks are blocked off for a big party from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. tonight. the only problem is you might be getting near the end of the festival, the organizers say they are running out of money and only have three more events plans if they do not raise enough money or have enough sales. if you want to support, you better come out tonight or

otherwise october might be your very last month ever to do oakland first fridays. >> a good reason to get out there and go tonight. we also have an event with some dogs going on? tell us about this one. [laughter] >> yes. this is really cool. this is taking place in pacifica. surfing is a big culture along the west coast. especially down near pacifica. where they have some of the biggest waves in the world. but this is meant for little waves. it is called the world dog surfing championships. it takes place saturday morning. like the name implies, you will see bulldogs, labradors, all sorts of dogs of all shapes and sizes taking to the waves off of pacifica. don't worry about them doing well. they have -- although dogs where life vests -- wear life vests. there are competitions for solo dog surfers,

for double dog surfers. two dogs on a surfboard is my dream. also tandem human dog surfing. if your dog is not the type that wants to get on i -- on a board, there's a fetch and cut competition in the water, plus for those who want to stay on the sand, they have a dog fashion competition on the beach. so put on those sunglasses on your dog and a hawaiian shirt and a hat, and see if they can win the contest. some of the best dog surfers we are told are rescue dogs. this event actually helps benefit rocket dog rescue. there will be dogs for adoption at the event as well. >> an extra reason to go to that event, too. you also have something for cat lovers. >> this is kind of strange but lovable in the same way. you have heard of dog day afternoon -- this is cap day afternoon. -- cat day afternoon. it is called first caturday.

why should dogs get all the glory and outdoor fun? every first saturday, a bunch of cat owners and lovers put leashes on their cats and bring them out to the park to chill and have a big catnap with cats i guess. we are told and i believe this that cats are incredibly hard to train to be on leashes, so the organizers say, just do your best, don't force it, the cat will lead you -- we know they always tell you what to do -- some will walk on the leash and others will say nope and sit in their carriers. even if you don't have one, you can come out and check out all the cats sitting at the park on saturday. >> i love that. and pub in the park -- this sounds interesting. tell us more about this event. >> this takes place in redwood city. which of all the cities in the bay area other than san fran, redwood city does a fantastic job of throwing some fun events all summer.

pub in the park is four times during the summer, including this saturday. they put up a giant inflatableenglish style pub. it has no place to be at a part. -- at a park. but it's gorgeous and fun. it is a giant bounce house except you cannot bounce in it. you cannot even drink in it. the reason why -- normally you can drink inside of it but because of covid restrictions, it is still more of a set piece. it is still a fun day out. it is a 15 football style pub. it will have local beers for sale and live bluegrass bands, games like co croquet and corn hole -- games like croquet and corn hole. with food trucks with chicken and waffles, with bacon and caramel. sign me up for that. >> can you tell us about one more event that we might be able to go to this weekend? >> sunday, it is the very first version of sunday afternoons at

the tunnel taps, that is the brand-new park that opened a couple of weeks ago. they are going to do this every first sunday. the first full showcase of tunnel tops since the park opened. you will have djs, flamenco dancing, and a ranger-led camp fire talk around the campfire. >> this is great. so many options. we appreciate it. i love your website, sffunchief. -- sf.funchief.com. you have it all right there on your website. thank you for making time today. have a great weekend. >> my pleasure. >> "getting answers" continues in a moment. a reminder -- you can get our live newscasts, breaking news, and weather with our abc7 bay area streaming app, available on apple tv, android tv, amazon fire tv, and roku. just search "abc 7 bay area" just search "abc 7 bay area" and download it now. ♪♪

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out of sf city hall. "world news tonight" with david muir's next. have a great weekend. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for busreaking news as we come the air. a horrific house fire killing ten family members in pennsylvania. the images coming in. the fast moving fire breaking out early this morning. seven adults and three children among the victims, including sons, daughters and, grandchildren. a volunteer firefighter on the scene discovering the victims were his own family members. a criminal investigation now under way. breaking news in the alex jones trial. a jury just a short time ago ordering the conspiracy theorist to pay $45.2 million to parents who lost their 6-year-old son in newtown for calling the sandy ho m a hoax. his second multimillion dollar penalty in just two