American Unemployment Reaches Lowest Rate in Almost Fifty Years
‘While the Senate was focused on Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation last Friday, our economy reached a major milestone. According to the latest Department of Labor report, unemployment in the United States of America has now fallen to 3.7 percent. That’s our lowest unemployment rate since 1969. Let me say that again: The share of Americans who are seeking work but cannot find it is as low as it’s been in just shy of 50 years.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the benefits Americans continue to see from the Republican pro-opportunity, pro-worker agenda:
“While the Senate was focused on Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation last Friday, our economy reached a major milestone. According to the latest Department of Labor report, unemployment in the United States of America has now fallen to 3.7 percent. That’s our lowest unemployment rate since 1969. Let me say that again: The share of Americans who are seeking work but cannot find it is as low as it’s been in just shy of 50 years.
“There was other good news, too. Unlike what happened too often in the previous decade, this drop in unemployment did not come from discouraged workers giving up the search altogether. To the contrary -- 150,000 more Americans joined the labor force last month and the unemployment rate still went down. Now that’s what an opportunity economy looks like.
“Day after day, my Republican colleagues and I have come to the floor and outlined all the things we’re doing to try and help generate precisely this kind of economic momentum for the American people. This unified Republican government has rolled back regulations and cut red tape at a pace that hasn’t been seen for years. We’ve handed American families and job creators the most significant tax code overhaul in 30 years. Lower tax rates. A bigger child tax credit. More help for small businesses and better incentives to invest and create jobs on American soil.
“Our actions have been clear. And our economy is sending equally clear signals in response. The highest consumer confidence we’ve seen in nearly 18 years. The highest small business confidence we’ve seen 35 years. And now, the lowest unemployment rate we have seen in almost half a century.
“Now, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Government itself is not creating this prosperity. Republicans know that growth starts with workers and entrepreneurs -- not with Washington. But government can either put the wind in Americans’ faces… or at their backs. And there’s little question which way the wind has been blowing these past two years.
“It’s not ‘Armageddon,’ or ‘crumbs,’ as the House Democratic leader notoriously proclaimed in recent months. It’s not ‘disaster,’ as my friend, the Senate Democratic leader, has suggested. No -- it is rising wages, more job opportunities, and new investment. And it’s reaching kitchen tables and communities large and small all across America. The real winners here are the American people. Republicans are just proud our policies are helping them do what they do best.”
Related Issues: Jobs, Taxes, Economy, Tax Reform, Small Business
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