Statement by Rebecca Dixon, President and CEO, National Employment Law Project
“This week, working people were hoping for some relief from a sputtering job market and rising gas and food prices. Indeed, the White House fueled those hopes Wednesday afternoon, telling reporters that President Trump would that night announce his plans to wind down the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and put an end to the damage being done to American families and the world economy. But the president summarily dashed those hopes, trumpeting more escalation with no plan for peaceful resolution.
“So, the barrage of chaotic policies that has thrown the U.S. economy into disarray, hindering job creation momentum and leaving all kinds of job seekers, from recent high school and college graduates to laid off federal workers, on the outside looking in will continue unabated.
“March’s job report did show a modest bounce back from February, with 178,000 jobs added over the month, and the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.3 percent. With negative revisions for February, the economy has been adding just 68,000 jobs per month over the first quarter of this year.
“These changes were not enough to improve the overall outlook. The Black unemployment rate of 7.1 percent remains at recession levels, almost exactly double that of white workers. The long-term unemployment rate of 25.4 percent, also at recession levels, demonstrates how much worse the economy is than the 4.3 percent unemployment rate indicates. For those with jobs, average weekly earnings were actually down $0.65 over the month, leaving workers struggling to pay for skyrocketing prices at the pump.
“Recent polling shows that three out of four Americans view this as a bad time to look for a job—especially as fears about employers using AI to replace jobs grows. The failure of Congress and the states to fix unemployment benefits after the COVID pandemic continues to loom large as workers endure an uncertain future. Recent research by NELP shows how state UI programs have failed to respond to increases in unemployment with commensurate payouts. We badly need increased UI benefits and expanded eligibility now before things get worse.”
The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting underpaid and unemployed workers. NELP is the leading national nonprofit working at the federal, state, and local levels to create a good-jobs economy. For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org.
