Today’s Jobs Report Is the Worst of the Year, Providing Further Evidence That a Vote for Democrats Is a Vote for a Weaker Economy

Research | Republican National Committee

DEMOCRATS’ CLOSING MESSAGE ON THE ECONOMY

• As Democrats desperately try to whitewash their economic record, they can’t hide from: 40-year high inflation, declining real wages, lower real income, a looming recession, higher unemployment, a shrinking workforce, rising gas prices, slowing job growth, higher taxes, and more audits on American families.
• October’s jobs report showed the economy adding just 261,000 jobs last month, the worst jobs report of the year and the worst jobs report of the Biden presidency.
  • The unemployment rate rose in October to 3.7 percent while the labor force participation rate declined.
• Americans are struggling to afford basic goods as their paychecks continue to shrink.
  • Inflation ate up any wage gains in October while wages showed a “very clear slowdown,” meaning workers continue to see a massive pay cut under Biden.
• U.S. average gas prices are on the rise sitting at $3.79 per gallon, $1.40 higher than when Biden became president.
• Despite Biden’s attempts to downplay his failures, Americans are not fooled; they know Biden’s to blame.
  • 63 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy.

WORKERS ARE LEFT BEHIND IN BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS’ ECONOMY

• Unemployment rates rose in October across nearly all demographics, including women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans.
  • The U-6, a broader measure of joblessness, increased to 6.8 percent.
  • Americans without a high school diploma, high school graduates who did not attend college, and those who only attended some college all saw unemployment rates increase.
• The number of long-term unemployed Americans increased by 98,000 in October, and the number of unemployed Americans overall increased by over 300,000.
• Biden’s policies are creating a worker shortage at a time when many Americans are desperate to get back to work.
  • There are 10.7million job openingsthat businesses are struggling to fill, even though there are 6 million unemployed Americans trying to find a job.
  • 46 percent of small business owners say there are job openings they cannot fill –double the 48-year historical average according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB).

HIGHER PRICES AND LOWER WAGES FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES

• Bidenflation is shrinking workers’ paychecks, with rising prices eating up any wage growth.
  • The growth in average hourly earnings is at its lowest point in over a year.
• Key inflation indicators show higher prices are here to stay under Biden.
  • September’s Consumer Price Index soared by 8.2 percentcompared to last year, exceeding economists’ expectations and remaining at the highest level in 40 years.
  • September’s Producer Price Index rose by 8.5 percent since last year, coming in aboveeconomists’ expectations
  • September’s personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – remains at astronomically high levels.
• With prices showing no signs of coming down, working-class families are facing a major pay cut.
  • Real average hourly earnings fell 3 percent since last year, marking the 18th month in a row under Biden in which inflation has outpaced wages.
  • Real wages have fallen every month since Biden and Democrats passed their wasteful $1.9 trillion “stimulus.”

MORE AMERICANS ARE IN FINANCIAL JEOPARDY UNDER BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS

• With rising prices forcing millions to make tough choices, 75 percent of Americans are afraid Bidenflation will have a negative impact on their retirement plans.
  • 54 percent of Americans report stopping or reducing their retirement savings altogether because of higher prices, and 43 percent report drawing money out of their retirement accounts to pay for daily expenses.
• Americans are falling deeper into debt to keep up with “decades-high inflation on essentials such as food, gas and housing.”
• Credit card debt is rising at its “fastest clip in more than 20 years,” climbing 13 percent since last year.
  • Interest rates on credit card debt have skyrocketed to 30-year highs, meaning families struggling to pay for Bidenflation risk falling into even deeper debt.
• Congress’ Joint Economic Committee estimates Bidenflation cost the average American family $728 in September.

AMERICANS ARE NOT HAPPY WITH BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS’ ECONOMY

• American families are seeing higher prices for virtually everything, and they know exactly who to blame: Biden and Democrats.
• According to a CBS News/YouGov poll, 71 percent of Americans blame Biden for the current state of the economy, with 45 percent saying he bears a “great deal” of responsibility.
  • Another CBS News/YouGov poll found that 53 percent of likely voters believe gas prices will go up if Democrats control Congress next year.
• According to a recent CNN poll, 78 percent of Americans rate economic conditions as poor.
• According to a CNBC survey, 77 percent of Americans say higher prices have “set them back financially.”

DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS THEY CREATED: MORE INFLATIONARY SPENDING

• As Americans struggle to get by, Biden and Democrats not only caused inflation but are threatening to make it worse.
• In March 2021, Biden and Democrats passed their inflation-fueling $1.9 trillion “stimulus,” which even liberal economists and think tanks say ignited inflation.
• In August, every single Democrat voted to pass the Bidenflation Scam, which experts say will worsen inflation and raise taxes on working-class Americans.
  • Studies from the Tax Foundation, Penn Wharton Budget Model, Moody’s, and the Congressional Budget Office all found that the bill will either make inflation worse or do basically nothing to bring down inflation.
  • The Tax Foundation concluded that the Bidenflation Scam Act will “worsen inflation especially in the first four” years.
• To top this off, Biden is now pushing his student debt bailout, which experts warn will cost taxpayers billions and worsen inflation.

REPUBLICAN-LED STATES ARE DRIVING JOB GROWTH

• Biden deserves no credit for jobs that have been created – he paid Americans not to work for months and stifled economic growth.
  • 250,000 fewer jobs were created in 2021 than what Biden promised.
• Republican-led states are the ones creating jobs and leading the economic recovery.
  • Through September, nine of the top 10 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and all 10 states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
  • Out of the top 12 states with the lowest unemployment rates, ten are led by Republican governors and nine have Republican-controlled legislatures. 

Follow @RNCResearch for the latest analysis of current policy issues and trends.