There has been alarm sounded about the recent jobs report showing the economy only produced tens of thousands of jobs rather than the hundreds of thousands we have gotten use to.
The reason for the drop in jobs creation is pretty simple. It is simply harder to get to zero unemployment the closer an economy gets to it. It is not much different than the challenge of scoring in the “Red Zone” in football. The closer you get to the end zone, the more difficult it becomes. The number of ads for jobs is still significant, it is just difficult finding people that can fill them. This speaks more about the continued need for more training and preparation. The US has what the economists call “full employment” (four percent unemployment or less), getting to zero is only going to be more daunting.
This week, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s February 2019 jobs report:
“Jobs numbers were lower than expected, but wage growth just keeps getting better. Wages are rising for workers at their fastest pace in a decade and unemployment is at 3.8 percent – nearly a 50-year low.
“You can’t read too much into one month. The good news is the three-month average of 186,000 still far outpaces predictions for 2019 made before Republicans enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – which drove the trajectory of the U.S. economy significantly upward. America still has more job openings – 7.3 million – than workers.
“If we want to improve the U.S. economy further, rather than wasting time on a rush to impeachment by House Democrats, we should be working together to pass the crucial trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.”
Note: The U.S. Department of Labor reported today that the economy added 20,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, with a three-month average of 186,000 jobs being added. The yearly increase in wages rose to 3.4 percent, the largest increase since 2009.
