Sen. Marshall Statement on Underwhelming Jobs Report

(Kansas City, KS, June 4, 2021) – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. issued the following statement after the release of today’s Department of Labor (DOL) jobs report showing employers only adding 559,000 jobs in May and an unemployment rate of 5.8%. The current labor shortage has led to companies struggling to find employees and a record breaking 8.1 million open jobs across the country. In Kansas, there are 58,000 job openings, and the April labor report shows nearly 52,717 Kansans who are unemployed. Additionally, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a record-high 48% of small business owners in May reported unfilled job openings – that’s 26 points higher than the 48-year historical reading of 22%.

“May marks another month of disappointing job growth brought on by this Administration’s socialist driven spending policies. Not only are these policies driving up inflation but they have also created lucrative government dependency that makes it more beneficial to stay unemployed rather than return to work,” said Senator Marshall.

Background:

Senator Marshall penned an op-ed for the Kansas City Business Journal highlighting the need to help get Kansans back to work and halt enhanced unemployment benefits. You may click HERE to read Senator Marshall’s op-ed in its entirety.

Last month, Senator Marshall introduced the Get Americans Back to Work Act, bicameral legislation in partnership with U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (SD), to repeal the increase in unemployment benefits brought on by the Pelosi-Schumer socialist agenda. Senators Marsha Blackburn (TN), Mike Braun (IN), John Cornyn (TX), Kevin Cramer (ND), Ted Cruz (TX), Steve Daines (MT), Joni Ernst (IA), Lindsey Graham (SC), James Lankford (OK), Mike Rounds (SD), Marco Rubio (FL), Rick Scott (FL), Tim Scott (SC), John Thune (SD), and Tommy Tuberville (AL) have signed on as cosponsors. Earlier this year, Democrats forced through legislation without any Republican support that provided $300 more in unemployment benefits, in turn making it more profitable for many Americans to stay unemployed.

Senator Marshall recently spoke on the Senate floor about the labor shortage. You may click HERE to watch Senator Marshall’s speech in its entirety.

Senator Marshall said in part, “Democrats have made it more profitable for many Americans to stay unemployed. That’s because these policies are not intended to help our economic recovery. They’re intended to reform our American system and create more dependency on the government. This leap towards socialism comes at a time when our nation is on its way to reaching herd immunity and businesses are emerging from government imposed lockdowns. Now President Biden has delivered them a government funded labor shortage… While there are certainly people that needed access to increased unemployment benefits during the heart of this pandemic, unemployment insurance was never meant to be a permanent salary replacement…For all of these reasons, last week, 15 of my colleagues joined me in introducing the Get Americans Back to Work Act…”

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