U.S. Economy Added 467,000 Jobs in January 2022, Signaling No Need for Govt Meddling

The good news jobs gain in January gives President Biden and Congress ample reason to step back and let businesses and workers chart a path to recovery, say CEI experts.

Statement by Ryan Young, CEI Senior Fellow:

“The latest job numbers give another reason why the America COMPETES Act is unnecessary. Even without the massive corporate subsidies in the bill, employers added 476,000 jobs to their payrolls. The fact that the jobless rate edged up from 3.9 percent to 4.0 percent is actually good news. That number only includes workers who are actively searching for jobs. So if it goes up even as the economy adds 476,000 jobs, that means labor force participation, which has been depressed for most of the pandemic, is going up. Congress did the right thing in scuttling the never-needed Build Back Better bill. With the national debt now over $30 trillion, the America COMPETES Act should also be scrapped.”

Statement by Sean Higgins, CEI Research Fellow:

“The Labor Department’s report Friday that U.S. employers added 467,000 jobs in January is further proof that the economy can recover if it is simply allowed to do so. Despite the gains, the unemployment rate remained stuck at 4 percent due mainly to the lingering consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and its restrictions. The number of people who reported that they had been unable to work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic was 6 million, nearly double the number for December, and 1.8 million people said the pandemic prevented them from looking for work, up from 1.1 million who reported that last month. Nothing more sophisticated than getting past the pandemic and removing the related restrictions is needed to get the economy back to full health.”