by Alfredo Ortiz
Ignore the May jobs report‘s topline establishment survey number and the media’s celebratory reporting. It’s not to be trusted.
A new analysis by the Daily Caller News Foundation shows that payrolls were overstated by 1.3 million last year after accounting for the constant downward revisions. A new Bloomberg Economics report finds monthly job gains were overstated by 730,000 last year. Bloomberg says a surge of business closures is to blame.
Instead, look at the report’s more accurate household survey, which takes into account self-employed workers. That figure shows the economy lost a massive 408,000 jobs and an obscene 625,000 full-time positions last month.
These are the figures the media and the American public should focus on. The gap between the establishment and household surveys has never been larger. The unemployment rate increased and the labor force participation rate fell.
Even taking the payroll figure at face value, approximately half of the new jobs created were in the unproductive government or quasi-government healthcare and social services sectors of the economy. These jobs don’t generate real economic growth or increase living standards.
Meanwhile, real wages remain stagnant, as persistent inflation makes it impossible for workers to get ahead. As a result, credit card debt is at an all-time high of $1.3 trillion, and the personal savings rate is at a historic low.
Small businesses are feeling this consumer pain. “The truth is, the current economic climate has presented challenges that I simply cannot overcome,” said Cleo Sanchez, owner of Typewriter + Moss in Old Town Auburn, California, which is closing its doors. “I think a lot of people don’t have disposable income; it’s a struggle we all face. Without sales, we are unable to put groceries in our pantries or pay our bills.”
“It’s just so hard when everything is more expensive and there is just less spending money,” says Carolyn Hearn, owner of nearby US Artisan Market, which is also closing its doors, in a sentiment that’s shared by a large portion of American small businesses.
These are the victims of Bidenflation and Bidenomics.
No wonder progressives are desperate for Biden to address the cost of living crisis by shifting the narrative to “greedflation.” In reality, of course, rapidly increasing input costs force businesses to raise prices just to remain profitable.
Things will go from bad to worse for small businesses and the labor market if the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is allowed to expire next year as scheduled and as President Biden has promised.
Not only did these tax cuts create a small business boom through provisions like a 20% deduction and immediate expensing, but they also paid for themselves and made the tax code more progressive. In other words, the government is collecting far more in taxes and the rich are paying a greater share of those taxes than before the tax cuts took effect.
Don’t expect to hear these facts from the mainstream media as the fight to extend these tax cuts gears up.
The only way to reinvigorate the American economy and labor market is by pursuing sensible economic policies like tax cuts that get the government out of the way of small business job creators. That means electing conservative candidates on Election Day.
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Alfredo Ortiz is CEO of Job Creators Network, author of “The Real Race Revolutionaries,” and co-host of The Main Street Matters podcast.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
