By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Wednesday Congresswoman Martha Roby (R) from Montgomery spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about the poor jobs numbers from May.
Representative Roby said on Facebook, “It probably got lost amongst the many scandals in D.C. right now, but the most recent jobs report had some troubling news. A smaller percentage of adult Americans are working today than when the recession supposedly ended four years ago, and this “recovery” is so weak by historic standards that it has produced four million fewer jobs than any other recovery since World War II. It is clearer than ever that the big government solution to our economic problems didn’t work.”
Rep. Roby said, “If we are going to improve this economy and create jobs we need less government and more freedom. ” Roby said that jobs and economic growth is an issue that matters to all Americans. Roby pointed out that manufacturing has actually lost 8,000 jobs in May.
Roby said, “This isn’t real growth.” “Lets expand opportunity without expanding government.” Roby warned that while 175,000 new jobs might sound good on the surface, there are troubling economic indicators and added, “We need less government and more freedom.”
The President of Generation Opportunity Evan Feinberg expressed similar sentiments on Friday. Feinberg said when the report was released, “With today’s depressing unemployment numbers and an economy that has been down for years, it would be nice for people my age to think that someone is watching out for us. Knowing that someone in Washington had our back would be comforting – and might give us some hope. Sadly, in recent days we’ve only seen more of the same from this Administration. We’ve witnessed President Obama state that more government involvement is the solution to unemployment, student loans, health care, etc. What has it gotten us? The highest sustained levels of youth unemployment since World War II, sky-high tuition and student debt, and rising insurance premiums. Government solutions aren’t solutions at all. Once again, Washington doesn’t get it.”
According to Generation Opportunity’s Millenial Jobs Report, the effective unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is 16.1%. That numbers is adjusted for labor participation rate by including those who have given up looking for work.
There are 1.7 million young adults whom are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not calculated as in the labor force. The declining labor force participation rate means that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
The official unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds is actually 11.6% and the unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African Americans is 21%. The unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics is 11.7%.
Congresswoman Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District.
