News
Job Gains, Strong Economy Show U.S. is on the Right Track
One year into the Biden administration, and this country is looking at an economy that is growing at a healthy pace and creating jobs thanks to policy decisions coming out of the White House.
New statistics show a 5.7 percent growth in the gross domestic product, the highest in nearly 40 years, which led to a record-setting number of new jobs created. Thanks to President Biden and a pro-worker Congress, the U.S. manufacturing base in being rebuilt and supply chains are being strengthened. That, in turn, leads to higher pay for workers.
The announcement last week that General Motors planned to spend some $7 billion to build new electric vehicles facilities in Michigan that would create 4,000 new jobs in the state shows the companies can make decisions that expand the number of good-paying union jobs in the U.S. while also benefitting the environment.
During the last year, we’ve also seen what happens when elected officials decide to invest in their fellow Americans. Thanks to the enactment of the American Rescue Plan, for example, job creation went up while unemployment went down. That allowed millions of Americans to support themselves and their families.
And those gains are only more likely to grow due to the passage of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill last November that will create millions of jobs to build and rebuild roads, rails and other infrastructure while paying middle-class wages subject to Davis-Bacon requirements. That ensures contractors pay workers on construction projects prevailing wage so that local wages, labor markets and workers won’t be undercut.
This country is finally building an American economy that works for the 21st century. Congress, however, could do more by passing legislation to make America more competitive, bolster our supply chains, strengthen our manufacturing, clean energy and innovation, invest in our families, and lower kitchen table costs. There is still time for more progress and lawmakers must come together to best serve their constituents.
Better jobs means a better life for hardworking Americans. But that won’t continue unless a pro-worker majority remains on Capitol Hill. That’s why this year’s congressional elections are so important. There have been so many gains made this year. The middle class can’t afford to let them go by not voting their interests.
Corporate America votes with its wallet time and again. It’s time for working Americans to do the same.