‘Unmatched’ Economic Growth, Opportunity

U.S. Economy Added Over One Million Jobs Since Passage Of Tax Reform

Since the Republican tax reform legislation passed in December 2017, more than one million jobs have been added to the workforce. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National), 1-Month Net Change,” Accessed 6/05/2018)

The unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since April 2000. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Civilian unemployment rate,” Accessed 6/05/2018)

• “In April, the unemployment rate fell below 4% for the first time in 17 years. The jobless rate ticked down further in May to a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, the lowest since April 2000, the Labor Department said last week. The last time the rate was lower was in 1969, when young men were being drafted into the Vietnam War.” (“American Jobs Outnumber the Jobless,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/05/2018)

NEW YORK TIMES: ‘We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are’

“[F]or example, ‘splendid’ and ‘excellent’ fit the bill. Those are the kinds of terms that are appropriate when the United States economy adds 223,000 jobs in a month … and when the unemployment rate falls to 3.8 percent, a new 18-year low.” (“We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are,” The New York Times, 6/01/2018)

• “‘Salubrious,’ ‘salutary’ and ‘healthy’ work as words to describe the 0.3 percent rise in average hourly earnings, which are up 2.7 percent over the last year — a nice improvement …” (“We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are,” The New York Times, 6/01/2018)

• “And the numbers are ‘propitious’ and ‘agreeable’ in that they affirm that the United States economy is in basically sound shape, displaying neither the slightest warning signs of recession nor any clear evidence of overheating and inflation risks.” (“We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are,” The New York Times, 6/01/2018)

WALL STREET JOURNAL: ‘American Jobs Outnumber the Jobless’

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: “The U.S. had more job openings this spring than unemployed Americans. For the first time since such record-keeping began in 2000, the number of available positions exceeded the number Americans without jobs and actively looking, the Labor Department said Tuesday.” (“American Jobs Outnumber the Jobless,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/05/2018)

• “U.S. job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 6.7 million at the end of April, also a record high. That was more than the 6.3 million Americans who were unemployed during the month. Revised figures released Tuesday also show openings outnumbered the unemployed in March.” (“American Jobs Outnumber the Jobless,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/05/2018)

Tax Reform Creating Opportunities And Boosting Investment

“U.S. companies could plow more of the money saved from sweeping tax cuts into business investment later this year, perhaps even surpassing a jump in first-quarter capital expenditure that was the highest in almost seven years, strategists and analysts said…. The increased spending in the first quarter follows significant cuts in corporate taxes approved late last year by the Republican-led Congress…. With data in from 94 percent of S&P 500 companies, first-quarter capital expenditures total $159 billion, up more than 21 percent from a year ago …” (“U.S. Companies Seen Investing More In Business This Year After Tax Cuts,” Reuters, 5/17/2018)

• “Among the biggest early spenders, Google parent Alphabet recorded $7.3 billion in capital spending for the first quarter, up from $2.5 billion a year ago, and the highest amount for the company since at least 2004, based on data from S&P Dow Jones. Apple’s capex increased to $4.2 billion from $3 billion a year ago, while Amazon.com’s jumped to $3.1 billion from $2.1 billion, the data found.” (“U.S. Companies Seen Investing More In Business This Year After Tax Cuts,” Reuters, 5/17/2018)