Washington, D.C. — Center for American Progress Economist Michael Madowitz released the following statement today on the April 2018 Employment Situation figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
The employment report from the U.S Department of Labor today showed another month of reasonably strong job growth and a topline unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. Despite the tight labor market, these gains have yet to translate into meaningful wage growth for workers, with this month’s report showing a 2.6 percent year-over-year increase.
When considering why we haven’t seen significant wage growth, it’s worth looking at the large corporate tax cuts passed by the Congressional majority that has, despite the White House’s insistence, so far failed to trickle down to workers. Corporations have plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into stock buybacks while passing crumbs on to their workers. As a result, it’s even more important that Congress focuses on crafting policies that improve economic outcomes for disadvantaged communities that have yet to fully recover from the recession, and were struggling even before then. The Fed, too, should focus on these communities by continuing to keep interest rates low, allowing for the labor market to continue to tighten and wage growth to grow more broadly.
Related resource: The State of the U.S. Labor Market: Pre-April 2018 Jobs Release by Galen Hendricks and Michael Madowitz
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected].