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Commentary By Diana Furchtgott-Roth

MI Responds: April 2016 Jobs Report

Economics Employment

"MI Responds" features real-time commentary from Manhattan Institute scholars on breaking news and developing issues. Click here to view more.

With the release of the April employment numbers and revisions to the prior months, it is obvious that the number of jobs added by employers has declined steadily over the past six months. One month does not make a trend, but six months do. These data match the decline in GDP growth, from 2 percent in the third quarter of 2015, to 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, to 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016, spurred by the decline in nonresidential fixed investment—structures and equipment.

Workers are taking note. The labor force participation rate declined from 63 percent in March to 62.8 percent in April, and the civilian labor force shrank by 362,000 workers. Neither the presidential candidates nor Congress are devoting sufficient attention to economic growth proposals—and it is only through economic growth that these trends will be reversed.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth is a Senior Fellow and Director of Economics21 at Manhattan Institute