Lubbock Times

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its jobs report for May 2024, revealing the creation of 272,000 new jobs. The labor participation rate decreased slightly from 62.7 percent in April to 62.5 percent, while the unemployment rate increased marginally from 3.9 percent in April to 4.0 percent.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) responded to the May jobs numbers, stating: "In May, the unemployment rate grew to 4 percent and the labor participation rate dropped again, setting us even further back from pre-pandemic levels. President Biden's policies have failed miserably to stabilize and grow the economy and disincentivized Americans from entering the workforce."

Arrington further commented on job growth under President Biden: "Reports show that upwards of half the job gains under Biden have come from illegal immigrants, which belies a far weaker economy than Democrats want you to believe. Biden's illegal immigrant crisis has conveniently served as a 'two-for' - shoring up his vote tally and padding his dismal unemployment numbers."

The report highlighted consumer fears of a recession rising for the second consecutive month. This sentiment is compounded by last week’s GDP report, which indicated a modest growth of 1.3 percent in Q1 of this year—0.3 percentage points lower than forecasted.

The House Budget Committee noted that nearly half of all job growth since October can be attributed to various immigrant groups, including illegal immigrants. Since October 2023 alone, there have been a total of 1,529,502 illegal immigrant encounters at the Southwest border.

In April, inflation grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent, with prices having risen a total of 19.3 percent since President Biden took office. The committee attributes this inflation to what it describes as reckless tax and spending policies by the Biden Administration.

The House Budget Committee expressed concern over several economic indicators under the current administration's fiscal policies: high inflation rates eroding income, sluggish GDP growth, and declining consumer confidence.