11/07/2024

Dems promise $3.5 trillion social spending bill will create more jobs



Meanwhile, cargo ships are backing up due to shortage of dock workers


Maps show hundreds, if not thousands of cargo and container ships waiting off the coast of America so they can be unloaded as the Democrats promise to create jobs with their $3.5 trillion social spending bill. The backlog of ships waiting to unload at U.S. ports, however, is caused by a shortage of longshoremen to unload the ships.

It’s possible that the Dems are simply used to promising jobs as a means of pushing their big-spending, big-government spending bills. Maybe they’re hoping people won’t notice that the country isn’t currently facing a shortage of jobs. Rather, the problem is access to labor with many people who have stopped looking for jobs.

The “HIRING” signs are all over. Restaurants are one of the hardest hit industries but are hardly alone in their difficulties finding enough employees.

Mary, the owner of a Midwest café, indicated that they’ve had to pay more to entice people to take the jobs they needed to fill. But she also pointed out that inflation is already returning the economy to the status quo.

In other words, though workers make more, the cost of living eats up their increased wages and leaves them, in practical terms, right where they started.

The U.S. is projected to see a 5.2-percent inflation rate for the 4th Quarter of 2021 (according to Trading Economics – see graph for 12-Month U.S. Inflation Rate).

During that same period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has dropped from 7.8 percent to 5.2 percent (Unemployment was at 3.5 percent in February of 2020 just before the pandemic hit and increased to 14.8 in April of 2020 but has come down steadily since then as businesses opened up again).

While the Unemployment Rate would seem to suggest improvements, the Labor Participation Rate is virtually unchanged during the same period of time.

While it’s always good when people can find jobs, it’s a poor excuse for a massive spending package when the problem is getting people to take the jobs that are already available.