The U.S. economy is growing so fast that even American businesses can’t keep up.
The Labor Department released data Tuesday showing a 17-year high for job openings last quarter. An average 6.7 million jobs were open, with nearly 750,000 new openings in this Spring alone.
Just in July, there were "157,000 jobs added, and 59,000 additional jobs revised from the May and June reports showing continued strength," the U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta wrote in a statement.
"The unemployment rate edged down to 3.9%. This is only the eighth time that the monthly unemployment rate has fallen below 4.0% since 1970, and three of those months happened under President Trump in 2018. There is a record 156 million people in the labor force. Since President Trump's election, more than one million prime-age people joined or rejoined the labor force. For the second consecutive month, the unemployment rate for Hispanics reached a record low," the statement reads.
"Wages grew over the past 12 months at a rate of 2.7% in July. It is clear that wage growth must increase. Further wage increases will add a great benefit to the American workforce."
The booming economy is creating a high demand for labor, which is becoming increasingly harder to find thanks to a historically low unemployment rate of 3.9%. Having too many open jobs is about as good as an economic ‘problem’ can get.
If President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress want to continue the country’s economic success, they should shift their focus to improving the U.S. labor participation rate, which currently sits at 62.7%.
One way legislatures could help achieve this is through welfare reform — something Republicans promise to cover if they keep control of Congress in November.
Incentivizing work within welfare programs could help lift people out of poverty and into the workforce.
The economic wins under Trump have been “yuge,” and welfare reform could make it even "yuger."
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