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 266,000 in November and the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent. Average hourly earnings increased 3.1 percent from the prior year.
“The job market has shown remarkable resilience in the face of the president’s increasingly erratic trade policies. But let’s not forget that Americans in many communities and parts of society still find it hard to get a well-paying job. Meanwhile the Trump administration is set on making things worse by proposing cuts to nutrition assistance; like Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, they chose the holiday season to punish households of the less fortunate.”
“There’s so much we can do to further shore up the economy and address persistent inequalities. I call on the administration to preserve and strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rather than weaken it. And as Congress makes year-end appropriations decisions, I urge inclusion of paid leave legislation backed by the House that would allow federal workers to care for a child or sick family member without facing financial hardship. In addition, it’s important for Congress to approve a bill that would require the Bureau of Economic Analysis to report economic growth by income decile and the top 1 percent. That 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, author of the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (H.R. 1534), introduced the bill as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in June along with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA). Congresswoman Maloney also 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.
Congresswoman Maloney is Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, 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
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