Addressing his first divided Congress, Biden says 'the soul of this nation is strong'

President Biden opened his speech by touting the country's economic strength. He got a big boost from Friday's jobs report, which showed that about half a million jobs were added to the economy in January, which was much higher than analysts predicted. There are other indicators that look good for Biden, too -- in December, inflation slowedfor the sixth straight month, ebbing from historic highs that had become a source of major criticism of him and his administration.

But the strong job growth under Biden has to be taken in context. Tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the labor market was still recovering when Biden took office in January 2021. And although the unemployment rate is at its lowest point in decades, as Biden also noted, Americans don't necessarily think the economy is improving. According to polling by Civiqs, confidence in the economy has been low since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, and although perspectives on the economy outlook are a little rosier than they were over the summer, the share of Americans who say that the economic outlook is fairly or very bad is still high.

And Biden's own Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell, said earlier Tuesday that while inflation is starting to ease, if the labor market remains strong, more interest rate hikes could be coming. He warned that there could be more economic pain. "There's been an expectation that it'll go away quickly and painlessly," Powell said. "I don't think that's at all guaranteed."

-FiveThirtyEight's Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux

Biden touted his leadership despite a divided Congress on issues such as Ukraine and his "once-in-a-generation" infrastructure law.

"You know, we're often told that Democrats and Republicans can’t work together," he said. "But over these past two years, we proved the cynics and the naysayers wrong."

"Yes, we disagreed plenty. And yes, there were times when Democrats had to go it alone. But time and again, Democrats and Republicans came together," he continued.

Biden -- in a theme of the evening -- brushed aside his administration's challenges to focus on bipartisanship, saying he signed more than 300 bipartisan laws since becoming president, from reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act to the Electoral Count Reform Act to the Respect for Marriage Act.

"To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can't work together in this new Congress," he said.

At the top of his State of the Union remarks, President Biden acknowledged the changes that came with the 118th Congress, including offering congratulations to McCarthy, the newly elected Republican Speaker of the House.

"I don't want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you," Biden said after turning around to shake the Republican's hand -- a gesture of goodwill ahead of what is likely to be a two-year period of legislative debate and conflict between Biden and McCarthy's parties.

The president then congratulated the new leader of the House Democrats and the first Black House minority leader in history, Hakeem Jeffries.

Biden then nodded to the longest serving Senate leader in history, Mitch McConnell, as well as Chuck Schumer's latest term as Senate majority leader -- "this time with an even bigger majority."

Biden ended his introduction by lauding former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, someone who he said "will be considered the greatest speaker in the history of this country."

President Biden entered the chamber just after 9 p.m. ET to expected applause from the attendees.

He shook the hands of many lawmakers as he made his way to the podium.