March Jobs Report: Welcome to Carter Country!

Today’s jobs report is no surprise to job creators because it reflects the reality we see every day: this economic recovery is rocky at best and Washington policies only make job creation worse. Companies added the fewest jobs in nine months, which is a remarkable retreat from the illusory numbers we saw in February.

The unemployment rate fell slightly last month only because jobless Americans are losing hope – a half million people dropped out of the workforce in March and aren’t even counted into the rate. America must generate 125,000 jobs a month to just keep up with population growth; we added only 88,000. We are at a 63.3 percent workforce participation rate, which is the lowest rate since May of 1979.

Welcome to Carter Country – an American economy of slow growth and anemic job creation.

Why would a small business owner expand when the President is planning more tax increases? Why would a business hire more workers when the new health care law makes new hire costs completely unpredictable?

Until Washington cuts taxes, rolls back regulations and adopts pro-growth policies encouraging job creation, we can expect to see more disappointing unemployment reports.