The July jobs report shows America’s economy is struggling under weak leadership. Only 73,000 new jobs were created last month, a pathetic number that shows how badly things have gotten. This is far below what hardworking Americans need to get ahead.
The unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent in June. While politicians try to spin this as still being low, any increase in joblessness hurts real families. Every percentage point means more Americans out of work and struggling to pay bills.
What makes this even worse is that previous months were revised down sharply. May jobs were cut from 19,000 to just 14,000, and June dropped too. This means the economy has been weaker than we were told all along.
The three-month average of job creation is now just 35,000 jobs per month. This is nowhere near enough to keep up with population growth or give opportunities to young Americans entering the workforce. Our country deserves much better than this weak performance.
Health care and social services were the only bright spots, adding some jobs. But these government-heavy sectors don’t create the manufacturing and private sector jobs that built America great. We need policies that help real businesses grow and hire.
The Federal Reserve and economic experts are clearly worried about these numbers. When job growth slows this much, it often signals bigger problems ahead. American families are already feeling the pinch from high prices and now job growth is stalling too.
This jobs report proves we need leaders who understand how to grow the economy. Small businesses are the backbone of America, but they need lower taxes and less red tape to hire more workers. Instead we get excuses and spin from Washington.
American workers deserve policies that put them first, not last. We need to get back to basics with pro-growth policies that create good paying jobs. Until that happens, reports like this will keep showing an economy that’s just treading water while families struggle.
