Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Vice Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, issued the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payroll employment grew by 128,000 in October and the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent. Average hourly earnings increased 3.0 percent from the prior year.
“The economy continues to generate jobs at a relatively healthy pace and weather the president's self-inflicted wounds, although I am worried how long that will last. Wednesday’s report on gross domestic product confirmed the economy is slowing as the president’s trade wars and other haphazard policies cause businesses to delay and even cancel investments. Republican tax cuts didn’t come close to providing the sustained economic boost we were promised and only succeeded in making the rich even richer.”
“In fact, the president has squandered the solid economy he inherited by making income inequality worse and weakening regulations that protect workers, consumers and the environment. He has turned his back on poor and middle-class families, and overlooks the fact that black and Hispanic Americans have accumulated less wealth than other groups and that women earn less than men. The president constantly tries to take credit for an unemployment rate that had been falling for years before he took office, while ignoring that the pace of job creation has slowed.”
“There’s so much we can do to shore up the economy and address persistent inequalities. I urge Congress to pass a bill that would require the Bureau of Economic Analysis to report economic growth by income decile and the top 1 percent. This would help us measure inequality and implement programs and policies to ensure that everyone in this country can enjoy the benefits of economic growth.”
Congresswoman Maloney introduced the Measuring Real Income Growth Act (H.R. 707) this Congress and in the 115th Congress. The legislation would require the Bureau of Economic Analysis to publish distributional analyses of gross domestic product. The Congresswoman is Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, Acting Chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Press contact
Randy Woods
Randy_Woods@jec.senate.gov
(202) 224-2599
