The State of the American Worker — Never Better

How many Americans know this now about the state of the American worker? Too few. Here is Stephen Moore:

Last week, I testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on the state of the American labor market. I summarized my message in one sentence: For American workers, the job market has never — or at least seldom — been better. If you don’t have a job, go out and get one, because jobs are out there for the taking.

Everyone knows the joyous statistics, of the lowest unemployment rate in two decades, the lowest black and Hispanic unemployment rates in three decades (at least), a record number of Americans today who are working, and 5 million bonuses paid out to middle-income Americans this year. President Donald Trump boasts about the job market almost daily, and deservedly so. Several of the Democrats on the committee kept disparaging the Trump tax reform as the “tax scam” for the rich. That was a good sound bite a year ago, but do they still want to stick with that message today when about two-thirds of Americans rate the economy as “good” or “great?” This is called leading with your chin.

The good news goes beyond the headline numbers. Almost 800,000 construction, manufacturing and mining jobs have been created since Trump’s election. These are the blue-collar and middle-class jobs that had been flat or disappearing for years. Last week, the National Association of Manufacturers found that 95 percent are optimistic about the future. More than 4 in 5 in the survey said they plan new investment because of the tax cuts. Wow!

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data show 6 million unfilled jobs and a shortage of workers to fill them. This is the very definition of a tight labor market and will most likely lead to higher wages and bonuses to workers. It is already having this effect. In some parts of the country, employers are paying signing bonuses of up to $25,000 for welders, pipe fitters, engineers and truck drivers. “We’ve probably never had a situation like we have today, where the demand (for workers) is strong and capacity is constrained,” says Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Association.

Read more: Townhall

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