Rep. Delaney’s Statement on April Jobs Report
US Congressman John Delaney (Maryland District 6)
The U.S. economy added 288,000 jobs in April, lowering the unemployment rate to 6.3%, the lowest unemployment rate since 2008, according to the latest report from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Congressman John K. Delaney (MD-6) released the following statement:
“Today’s job report indicates that at the national macro-level we’re still moving in the right direction. Our unemployment rate is now the lowest it has been in over five years. Nearly all of this month’s job growth came from the private sector, with businesses adding 273,000 jobs. More and more Americans are working and that’s a tremendously good thing.
“However, I believe we still have major work to do to ensure we have a thriving middle class across the entire country. The national number may be 6.3%, but in Hagerstown unemployment is at 8.4% and each Western Maryland county in my district is still above 7% unemployed.
“To build a strong middle class, Washington must respond to globalization and technology. This has been my top priority in Congress and my bipartisan infrastructure bill would create over a million new jobs. Over 30 Republicans have reached across the aisle to support the Partnership to Build America Act, because my legislation is fiscally responsible, helps our businesses compete, and gets more Americans back to work. This month we added 32,000 construction jobs, imagine that number if we were able to upgrade the thousands of crumbling roads and bridges nationwide.”
For the latest Maryland unemployment numbers, including county and city data, click here.
Delaney’s Partnership to Build America Act (H.R. 2084) is a bipartisan infrastructure bill that currently has 31 Democratic and 32 Republican cosponsors in the House. The legislation has also been introduced in the Senate by Senator Blunt (R-MO) and Senator Bennet (D-CO). The bill creates a $50 billion dollar infrastructure fund that can be leveraged to $750 billion. This fund will be capitalized by the sale of 50-year bonds that are not guaranteed by the Federal government and pay a 1% interest rate. To encourage U.S. corporations to purchase these bonds, they will be allowed to repatriate a certain dollar amount – determined by auction – in overseas earnings tax-free for every $1 they invest in the bonds. The fund will then provide loans or loan guarantees to states and municipalities to finance transportation, energy, education, communications, and water infrastructure projects.
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