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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

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today on Equal Pay Day.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the Department of Labor released its jobs report for March. 

 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today in response to today's Supreme Court decision in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, affirming the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling in favor of working Americans.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) attended The Hill’s “Smart Work: Manufacturing in the Digital Age” forum last week and discussed how Democrats are updating the “Make It In America” plan to address how the economy has changed as a result of new technologies and innovations, and what it means for America’s manufacturing sector.

Wanted to be sure you saw today's column for the Center for American Progress’s “Talk Poverty” blog by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality, and Opportunity. 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) attended a press conference today with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Democratic Members of Congress, Grammy award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Puerto Rican advocates to discuss the need to take immediate action to address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. 

Since Speaker Paul Ryan took the gavel in October, he has repeatedly expressed how important it is for Congress to pass a budget and return to “regular order” through the appropriations process. Yet his conference continues to be deeply divided over whether to adhere to the spending levels that both parties agreed to in the bipartisan budget agreement that was enacted last year. 

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the Department of Labor released its jobs report for February.


A gaggle of top House Democrats derided Speaker Paul Ryan's newly developed GOP task force on poverty on Wednesday, arguing that the group was a "sham."