Conyers, House Dems Express Concern Over Slowing Job Growth and Urge Pro-Jobs Nominees for Federal Reserve

Press Release

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) led a group of House Democrats in sending a letter to President Trump today, expressing concern over slowing job growth under Trump's leadership and cautioning him against proposing pro-Wall Street, anti-jobs candidates to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

More than three dozen Democrats--which included 7 Members of the Financial Services Committee, the leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the co-chairs of Conyers' Congressional Full Employment Caucus--cited that Trump's potential appointees to the Federal Reserve would conflict with his repeated campaign promise to prioritize jobs. They warned him that appointing hawks--who are quick to call for interest rate hikes that slow job and wage growth--to the Fed's top policymaking body would be a flagrant violation of his commitment to the American people.

The Congressmembers highlighted slowing jobs growth under Trump in the letter, stating that just "138,000 jobs were created in May, below the estimated 145,000 to 159,000 jobs per month pace that economists estimate is needed to absorb the flow of new workers into the labor force," and adding that, "Job gains have averaged just 121,000 over the last three months, a decrease from the average monthly increase of 187,000 jobs in 2016." The slight decrease in the unemployment rate in May, the Congressmembers observed, "was a result of many Americans abandoning their search for a job, as evidenced by the fact that the labor force participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points while the employment-to-population ratio also fell 0.2 percentage points." The Congressmembers also cited Obama's jobs figures, noting that "despite having his ambitious job-creation legislation blocked by a Republican-led Congress, President Obama left office presiding over 75 straight months of job growth, averaging 199,000 jobs per month during that period."

"I am disappointed, but not surprised, that job growth is already slowing under Trump leadership," said Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee and founder and co-chair of the Congressional Full Employment Caucus. "Appointing Wall Street deregulators and anti-jobs hawks to the Federal Reserve would be an attack on American working families and a blatant violation of his promise to be a jobs president."

Rep. Gwen Moore, Ranking Member on the House Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services, said, "President Trump's reported nominees at the Federal Reserve hold opinions radically outside the mainstream of the American public and the economic consensus. Emerging economic research indicates we can tolerate higher inflation if the trade-off means higher wages and lower unemployment."

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, co-chair of the Full Employment Caucus, added, "President Trump has failed to deliver on his promises to keep jobs in America or punish the companies that outsourced them. This week, GE moved an entire factory from Wisconsin to Canada. And the President's proposed budget would cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs, which could harm Americans by limiting access to critical services. The Economic Policy Institute released a report detailing that TrumpCare would cost Ohio over 80,000 jobs by 2022, nearly 7,000 in the five counties I represent! It's time for President Trump to keep his campaign promises and act on policies to support American workers and American jobs."

The Congressmembers emphasized the importance of candidates who "are deeply committed to the "maximum employment' element of the Fed's "dual mandate.' The Federal Reserve is legally mandated under the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 to pursue policies that promote "maximum employment," which the letter notes was a demand of the full employment movement led by Coretta Scott King. "When the Fed has prioritized its maximum employment mandate, as it did in the 1990s," the Congressmembers wrote, "it has resulted in tremendous growth, reducing longstanding racial disparities in unemployment and wage growth."

The 38 letter signers included: Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), John Conyers Jr. (MI-13), Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-03), Keith Ellison (MN-05), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-02), Bill Foster (IL-11), Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11), Al Green (TX-09), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Luis V. Gutiérrez (IL-04), Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Hakeem S. Jeffries (NY-08), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Daniel T. Kildee (MI-05), Brenda L. Lawrence (MI-14), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Ted Lieu (CA-33), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Gregory W. Meeks (NY-05), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ-06), Donald M. Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Terri A. Sewell (AL-07), Brad Sherman (CA-30), Darren Soto (FL-09), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

Source