U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means

01/24/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/24/2022 14:32

Brady: U.S. Unemployment Rate is Low for All the Wrong Reasons

Brady: U.S. Unemployment Rate is Low for All the Wrong Reasons

Under President Biden, at least 2.3 million Americans have left the workforce

"We have the makings of a wage-price spiral that is very tough to tame, and usually ends badly. No one wants to see that happen," Republican Leader on the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) warned on Yahoo Finance.

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CLICK HEREto watch the full interview.

Asked about the current unemployment rate, Rep. Brady outlined how President Biden's policies have sabotaged our jobs recovery by keeping Americans from reconnecting to work:

"Unfortunately, 3.9 percent is low for the wrong reasons. We've got between two and four million people who've left the workforcevoluntarily. That's not a good sign.

"There were a number of provisions in the COVID stimulus that discouraged Americans from reconnecting to work, including a revamped child tax credit, which for the first time no longer required Americans to have earnings at all.

"That, our local business told us, became another barrier after those very lavish federal unemployment benefits. The Affordable Care Act subsidies were equally untied to work and went up to a half a million dollars or more - that's become another barrier. If made permanent, experts had predicted that could incentivize about 2 million Americans to exit the workforce permanently."

On President Biden holding back our economic recovery, Rep. Brady said:

"2021 should have been a banner year, but President Biden fell short of expectationsin each of the three quarters, and I predict a fourth when those numbers come in.

"He's about 1.1 millions jobs short of his promisesfrom the COVID stimulus in March. Inflation has wiped out three years of wage gainsfor average Americans. We've still got a serious worker shortage that is really damaging Main Street businesses in a big way. Economic optimism has really plunged both from small businesses and families."

LISTEN: Brady: In One Year, President Biden Reversed Three Years of Wage Growth