Improving Job Numbers Emerge but Damaging Regulations Remain a Problem

The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate declined to 4.3 percent, the lowest since March 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. CEI Vice President for Strategy Iain Murray praised those gains but warned that bigger gains won’t happen without greater relief from Washington’s regulatory burdens, including the Labor Department’s own rule on overtime pay.

“Today’s job numbers included an uptick in the labor force, especially among women, which suggests that the economy is improving so much that more people are actively seeking work who previously had been discouraged from doing so. That may be because the tidal wave of regulation on businesses has slowed to a trickle. However, we will not start to see explosive growth in jobs until that tide is reversed and the most damaging regulations, like the new overtime rule, are repealed.”

Related:

Overtime Pay Isn’t A Cure-All: Make Work Flexible Without The Red Tape
Free to Prosper: Regulatory Reform