10.03.14

Sessions: 12 Million More Americans Outside Workforce Today Than In 2009

“Three-fourths of Americans say we remain in a recession—and there are sound reasons for such personal beliefs. Declines in wages and the percentage of people actually working have been hammer blows to working families.” 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement today as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that a record high number of Americans are not in the labor force:

“The jobs report does not signal that labor markets have recovered from prolonged and unacceptable lows. Indeed, the sustained exodus of workers from the workforce continues at an alarming clip. While some push positive spin, three-fourths of Americans say we remain in a recession—and there are sound reasons for such personal beliefs. Declines in wages and the percentage of people actually working have been hammer blows to working families.

First, labor participation rates have fallen to levels last recorded nearly 40 years ago. The number of working-age Americans outside the labor force has increased by 12 million since January 2009, reaching a record high 92,584,000 people. And because 97,000 people dropped out of the labor force but the population of people outside the workforce grew by 315,000, it strongly suggests that in the face of a bleak labor market, many young people never “dropped in” in the first place.

Americans need the confidence and stability of good jobs with rising wages. But the sporadic job numbers of recent months do not meet that urgent requirement. It’s time for a new course that will create better opportunities:

  • Allow more American energy production
  • Streamline the tax code to make us more globally competitive
  • Eliminate every burdensome and unnecessary regulation
  • Turn the welfare office into a job training center
  • Promote trade and immigration policies that serve the national interest
  • Balance the budget to restore confidence in the future”