Job Creators Network Reacts to December Jobs Report

Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of Job Creators Network, released the following statement in response to today’s December jobs report, which showed 216,000 jobs created last month, the unemployment rate unchanged at 3.7%, and the labor force participation rate fell to 62.5%:

“It’s an unhappy New Year for American jobseekers and employees as the labor market continues to show signs of weakness. Job growth came disproportionately in unproductive government jobs, continuing the 2023 trend. Monthly government jobs increased by an average of 56,000 in 2023, more than twice as fast as in 2022. Many of these government jobs are new IRS agents hired to harass productive small business owners.

“More than half of last month’s 216,000 new jobs came in government or quasi-government healthcare and social assistance jobs. Job creation in previous months was revised down by 71,000, continuing the recent trend of downward revisions. Don’t be surprised if December job creation is also revised down next month. Nearly 700,000 Americans left the labor force altogether last month, another sign of a softening labor market. 

“Meanwhile, real wages continue to stagnate, with average wages growing at about the same rate as core inflation. The number of multiple jobholders increased to a record high as more Americans have to work additional jobs to make ends meet. The Biden administration’s New Year’s resolution should be to reinvigorate the American labor market and small business economy through pro-growth reforms that get the government out of the way of job creators.”