Joe Biden, the US president-elect, said Friday's "grim" jobs report showed the economic recovery was stalling and warned the "dark winter" ahead would exacerbate the pain unless Congress passed a coronavirus relief bill immediately.
"The situation requires urgent action," Mr Biden said. "Americans need help and they need it now."
A government report earlier in the day showed the labour market slowing in November amid a surge of Covid-19 cases.
Mr Biden, the Democratic former vice president, offered support for an emerging bipartisan package of about $908 billion, which has drawn tentative support from members of both parties in Congress.
But he said the bill would be "just the start" and vowed to press for additional relief once he takes office in January.
The president-elect has focused heavily on the pandemic and economy during the transition, after a campaign in which he made President Donald Trump's mishandling of the coronavirus a central theme.
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US President-elect Joe Biden has made appointments for his senior White House staff. AFP -
Secretary of State: Antony J Blinken. AFP -
Director of National Intelligence: Avril Haines. AFP -
Ambassador to the UN: Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Bloomberg -
Secretary of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas. Reuters -
Former Secretary of State John Kerry will be the special presidential envoy for climate for US President-elect Joe Biden. EPA -
President-elect Joe Biden selected Jake Sullivan as his National Security Advisor, pictured here with Hillary Clinton. EPA -
Senior Advisor: Mike Donilon. Seen here on the right, alongside his brother Tom Donilon. Getty Images -
Deputy Chief of Staff: Jen OMalley Dillon. Getty Images -
Counsellor: Steve Ricchetti. Seen here while serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for then President Bill Clinton. Reuters -
Senior Adviser to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement: Cedric Richmond. AFP -
Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs: Julie Chavez Rodriguez. Seen here while serving as an aide to Kamala Harris. AFP -
Biden has also appointed Annie Tomasini as Director of Oval Office Operations, Dana Remus will be Counsel to the President, Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon as Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden, and Anthony Bernal will be Senior Advisor to Dr.Biden. Bloomberg -
Reema Dodin is a Palestinian-American political veteran and will become deputy director of the White House office of legislative affairs. Image: Twitter
He is expected to name Jeff Zients, a co-chair of his transition team and a former Obama administration economic aide, as his executive to co-ordinate the government's pandemic response and oversee vaccine distribution, a source said.
This week, Mr Biden unveiled his economic team, led by his nominee for the first female Treasury secretary, former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen.
Mr Biden's selections for top roles thus far have included some ground-breaking choices, including Neera Tanden, who would be the first woman of colour to run the Office of Management and Budget; and Cecilia Rouse, who would be the first black woman to oversee the Council of Economic Advisers.
Transition spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Friday that Mr Biden would announce more positions early next week, including members of his public health team.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence was visiting Georgia on Friday, where he was receiving a briefing at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centres for Disease Control and Preventionon on the pandemic.
Mr Pence then attended a rally with Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who face January ru-noff elections that will determine control of the US Senate.
Mr Trump, a Republican who has still refused to concede to Mr Biden, is due to lead a rally with Mr Perdue and Ms Loeffler on Saturday.
