Skip to main content

Jobs & the Economy

Creating jobs and expanding economic opportunity continues to be Democrats’ top priority.

Throughout the 117th Congress, House Democrats have partnered with President Biden to enact policies that expand economic opportunity for businesses, workers, and communities across America. Under President Biden and Congressional Democrats, the unemployment rate is at its lowest in more than 50 years with more than 10 million jobs created, helping more of our people get ahead in today’s economy and Make It In America.
 
Democrats pursue an economic agenda that helps American businesses create good-paying jobs and ensure that workers have the tools not only to get by but to get ahead in our global economy.  From raising the minimum wage to providing skills training and apprenticeship opportunities to ensuring equal pay for equal work, from making childcare more affordable to making it easier to save for retirement, Democrats’ economic policies are aimed at helping workers and their families attain real economic security at every stage of life. 
 
Democrats have also delivered historic legislation investing in infrastructure and greater access to high-speed internet, taking the lead in the clean-energy economy, and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. The generational Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has already begun to expand economic opportunity for Americans in communities across the country and takes action to repair our nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and other infrastructure while creating nearly 1.5 million jobs annually over the next decade. It contains the first major American investment in climate resilience to help communities upgrade their critical infrastructure and mitigate the impact of climate change-driven extreme weather. Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act also advances America’s clean energy goals, turbocharging clean energy research and transmission while promoting electric vehicle domestic manufacturing to reduce American dependence on gasoline while revitalizing our auto industry.
 
The CHIPS and Science Act includes bipartisan measures to revitalize the domestic semiconductor industry and spur research. By strengthening domestic supply chains, this law acts directly to accelerate American innovation in the long-term while acting immediately to address inflation and create good paying jobs. House Democrats will continue to champion skills training and education at every level – from early childhood learning through higher education – to prepare our people for success and advancement in a changing economy.  In all of these efforts, Democrats will continue to look for ways to make access to opportunities more equitable and to combat the lingering effects of legalized discrimination that continue to make it harder for minorities to access credit for loans, seek investment capital for startups, and build wealth to pass on to the next generation. 
 
With historic job creation under President Biden, House Democrats will continue to advance policies that expand economic opportunity for working families, support small businesses, and create better-paying jobs.


Related

Today, the Department on Labor released unemployment data for the month of February, indicating that the economy lost 36,000 jobs and the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%.
Any month in which the economy doesn’t create jobs is a disappointment. But today it’s clear that, thanks to the policies adopted by President Obama and the Democratic Congress, job losses are slowing to a halt.
Today, the House passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, legislation to help Americans get back to work, with a bipartisan vote of 217-201.
Last year, President Obama and the 111th Congress took their oaths of office as America faced the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression.
News that the economy grew by 5.9% in the last quarter of 2009 is another encouraging sign that steps taken by the Obama Administration and this Congress are working to turn the economy around.

From coast-to-coast, there are signs of economic recovery and job creation, due in part to actions taken by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Even prominent Republican Governors are breaking with their party and acknowledging that the Recovery Act has worked to create jobs and help the economy grow:

Today, President Obama announced plans to increase assistance to responsible families struggling to keep their homes in the wake of the housing market collapse.

The Federal Reserve and Commerce Department reported that U.S. manufacturing and housing growth increased in January, positive indications and further evidence that the economy continues to recover.

The Majority Leader’s Office has created the following online quiz showing how in its first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been successful in creating jobs and putting us on the path to economic recovery.
I have long supported the idea of a bipartisan fiscal commission that will set a path toward balanced budgets, and am pleased that President Obama took action today and created one by executive order.