Congressman Brooks on January Jobs Report: Strong Jobs Creation, Worsening Unemployment Rate

Washington, DC— Friday, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) highlighted the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics January jobs report.[1]

Congressman Brooks said, “On the plus side, the economy produced 304,000 new jobs in January and 2.2 million new jobs over the past year. Both are excellent numbers. Similarly, the monthly labor participation rate improved from 63.1% to 63.2%, with a very good 0.5 percentage point annual improvement. Notably, January marks an all-time record 100th straight month of job growth. This record streak began in October 2010 and is more than twice as long as the second best 48 month streak that ended in June 1990.”

Brooks continued, “On the troubling side, America’s unemployment rate increased for the second month in a row, from 3.9% to 4.0%.  November’s unemployment rate was a much better 3.7%.”

Brooks continued, “The apparent conflict in strong job creation with improving labor participation rate data but with a worsening unemployment rate is likely attributable to more Americans entering the work force and seeking jobs coupled with a continued surge in illegal aliens taking jobs from American families.”

Brooks continued, “Thankfully, wage growth (albeit relatively weak) continued in January. Average hourly nonfarm worker wages rose by three cents, to $27.56/hour, seven cents less than December’s strong ten cent hourly improvement but still a healthy 85 cents/hour better than a year ago.”

Brooks concluded, “So far, Democrat’s threatened 70% tax rates,[2] massively unaffordable ‘Medicare-for-All’ Socialized healthcare system,[3] and the job-killing ‘Green New Deal’[4] have not significantly damaged America’s economy because the Republican Senate and White House are bulwarks preventing their passage, but employers and job-creators are surely watching to see what radical job killing Socialist policies House Socialist Democrats and Socialist Democrat presidential candidates propose in the coming months. The open question is whether America’s education system has enabled the voting public to understand how bad Socialism is and how free enterprise has been instrumental in making America the greatest and most prosperous nation in world history.”

Key takeaways from the Bureau of Labor Statistics January jobs report are:

• America’s economy added 304,000 new, nonfarm payroll jobs in January 2019.
• America’s January unemployment rate deteriorated to 4.0% (a minor year-to-year improvement of 0.1 percentage points over the 4.1% January 2018 unemployment rate).
• Over the past year, the average weekly earnings for all non-farm American workers increased by 85 cents (to $27.56/hour).  
• The labor participation rate improved slightly to 63.2%, up from 63.1% in December.

###

[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Report, February 1, 2019. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf   

[2] CNBC.com, “AOC has company: Another new congresswoman backs 70% marginal tax rate on the rich,” January 31, 2019. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/31/ilhan-omar-backs-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-idea-for-high-taxes-on-rich.html

[3] Politico.com, “Harris dives into 'Medicare for all' minefield,” January 31, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/31/kamala-harris-medicare-for-all-1130970     

[4] Fox News, Ocasio-Cortez, Markey to unveil Green New Deal legislation, January 31, 2019. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ocasio-cortez-markey-to-unveil-green-new-deal-bill