The Continued Job Growth — Tax Cut Connection
Today’s jobs report from the Department of Labor continues to point to a growing and robust economy:
“Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 304,000 in January, compared with an average monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018. In January, employment grew in several industries, including leisure and hospitality, construction, health care, and transportation and warehousing. There were no discernible impacts of the partial federal government shutdown on the estimates of employment, hours, and earnings from the establishment survey. (See table B-1. For information about the annual benchmark process, see the note at the end of this release and table A. For more
information on the classification of workers affected by the partial federal government shutdown, see the box note at the end of this news release.)”
What was particularly positive was that there were “no discernible impacts of the partial government shutdown.” That impact is supported by the numbers.
The report concluded with this very positive assessment and showed a revision up from numbers at the end of last year:
“The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised up from +176,000 to +196,000, and the change for December was revised down from +312,000 to +222,000. With these revisions, employment gains in November and December combined were 70,000 less than previously reported. After revisions, job gains have averaged 241,000 per month over the last 3 months. (Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors. The annual benchmark process also contributed to the November and December revisions.)”
Today, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the following statement in response to the Labor Department’s January 2019 jobs report, which shows the link between GOP tax reform and the continued improvement in the job numbers:
“While Democrats continue to debate how high they are willing to tax families, the GOP Tax Cuts keep paying real, measurable dividends for American workers and small businesses. Wages and benefits for workers checked in at an 11-year high this week, and today’s jobs numbers show a strong and growing U.S. economy. It’s incredibly important that we work together to build on these important reforms so jobs and paychecks keep moving in this positive direction.”
The U.S. Department of Labor reported today that the economy added 304,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate was 4.0 percent.
