Economic Recovery
Floor Speech
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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on Friday, the U.S. job market got another monthly checkup. Hiring in May was up from the previous month but still fell short of the level experts and American employers had hoped for.
Of course, the highest expectations for our economic recovery under Democratic control were set by none other than the Democrats themselves.
Back in February, the Biden administration pointed to projections that its so-called American Rescue Plan would boost job creation in 2021 by 4 million over existing expectations. Meeting that new higher goal meant the economy would have to grow by over 900,000 new jobs a month. Needless to say, the job market is nowhere close--nowhere close--to meeting this target. In fact, hiring is falling short of where nonpartisan experts forecasted it would be even if--even if-- Democrats hadn't rammed through a multitrillion-dollar liberal wish list this spring.
I have been clear on the dangers of that bill from the beginning, and the data is now spelling it out very clearly. Democrats' bloated additions to unemployment insurance haven't just failed to help our recovery, they have actually hurt it, and the consequences on Main Street are now in full focus.
As hiring lags, employers are struggling to entice workers to rejoin and keep their facilities staffed. After a year that already tested budgets to the breaking point, small business owners are having to dig even deeper to attract staff, offering bigger bonuses and flexible hours. But even that hasn't been enough. For the fourth straight month, one survey of small businesses came back with record-high reports of unfilled job openings. As one small business owner in London, KY, reported to me, ``The current labor shortage is by far the worst'' he has ever seen. In fact, his short staff has had such a hard time keeping up with orders that ``customers are already considering moving business from this facility to other states.''
Unfortunately, this situation isn't unique. As I traveled the State last week, I heard the same story from employers of all sizes. Kentucky's labor force is still 90,000 workers below prepandemic levels. Nationwide, workforce participation has remained stagnant for nearly a year. All the while, prices for consumers are continuing to creep up.
This is exactly what Republicans and nonpartisan experts had warned against months ago. We urged Democrats not to force our country's promising early recovery into a permanent defensive crouch. Now, as States and business owners grapple with the consequences, I hope Democrats in Washington are paying attention and learning from this costly mistake
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