WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 80 percent of the net increase in employment over the last year was in occupations that pay relatively well, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The employment data classified by occupational categories are published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The latest economic statistics show continued strength while inflation remains under control, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton was reacting to positive data on economic growth, manufacturing activity, personal income, consumer spending, and inflation.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Federal Reserve should pause to fully examine the effects of its tightening of monetary policy, given the lack of inflation and potential risks to the economic outlook, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton's remarks followed the Federal Reserve's decision to raise the federal funds rate 0.25 percent to 2.00 percent, the fourth increase since June.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 337,000 increase in payroll employment in October shows that the economic expansion is on track, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. In addition to the strong October employment figures, employment increases in the two previous months were revised upward. Over the last 14 months, payroll employment has increased by 2.2 million new jobs.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 3.7 percent growth in the U.S. economy in the third quarter of 2004 reflects the continued strength of the expansion, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to Bureau of Economic Analysis data released today, both consumption and investment increased at a healthy pace, while core inflation declined to levels not seen since 1962.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Kerry's health plan would significantly increase the government's role in financing and managing health care, according to a new Joint Economic Committee study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The new study, An Analysis of Senator Kerry's Health Plan, evaluates the likely impact of the proposed health plan.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Foreign investment in the U.S. and international trade in services together account for over 6 million U.S. jobs, according to a new study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The new Joint Economic Committee study, Insourcing Jobs, examines the employment effects of foreign investment in the U.S., and the employment impact of exports of U.S. services. The study also finds that the annual compensation of insourced jobs tended to be above average.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - New tax data reveal that the bottom half of taxpayers ranked by income currently bears the lowest Federal individual income tax burden in many decades, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) income tax data show that the bottom half of taxpayers paid 3.50 percent of all Federal income taxes in tax year 2002, evidently the lowest level in half a century.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - New IRS data show that the top half of taxpayers ranked by income continue to pay over 96 percent of Federal individual income taxes while the bottom half accounts for less than 4 percent, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The newly released data are for tax year 2002, and clearly reflect the bursting of the stock market bubble that began in 2000.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Commissioner Utgoff, it is a pleasure to join in welcoming you before the committee once again.

   The September employment data have been affected by the four hurricanes that pounded the U.S. in August and September. Even so, according to the payroll survey, employment increased by 96,000 jobs in September, continuing its upward trend.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The median earnings of full-time, year-round workers are above their levels of the late 1990s, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton noted today. Since this pattern of employment represents most workers in the U.S. economy, this measure of earnings is one of the more relevant gauges of the economic well-being of American workers.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The latest data on manufacturing activity and construction reflect the underlying strength of the U.S. economy, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The upward revision in the rate of economic growth to 3.3 percent in the second quarter of 2004 is another indication of the health of the U.S. economy, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Today the Commerce Department announced the upward revision in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the U.S. The Commerce Department statistical release also showed that over the last four quarters, the U.S. economy has expanded at a rate of 4.8 percent.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The tax relief enacted since 2001 has pushed after-tax median income for married-couple families with two children to historic highs, according to a new Joint Economic Committee study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The new study, Family Income and Income Taxes During the Economic Recovery, examines the impact of the 10 percent tax bracket, expanded child credit, and marriage penalty relief on the after-tax income of such families between 2001 and 2003.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposal to provide hidden subsidies to a variety of countries, including some hostile to the U.S., was exposed today in a new study released by Joint Economic Committee Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The study examining this proposal, Opening a Back Door to Foreign Aid: The SDR Department at the IMF, was authored by Adam Lerrick of the Gailliot Center for Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Federal Reserve should refrain from further increases in interest rates until it has fully evaluated the impact of its three rate increases to date in the context of low inflation, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Today the Federal Reserve announced it was raising the federal funds rate 0.25 percent to 1.75 percent. Saxton noted that the latest information on the leading indicators of inflation - long-term interest rates, commodity prices, and the foreign exchange value of the dollar - taken together show that inflation is under control. In addition, the recent core CPI and PPI data also reflect price stability.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The increase in household wealth in the second quarter of 2004 reflects another advance in economic well-being in the current expansion, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The notion that the economy was in great shape through 2000 and that all its problems stemmed from policies initiated in 2001 is factually false, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton noted that the bursting of the largest stock market bubble in several generations occurred in the first quarter of 2000, and caused widespread economic damage readily visible in standard economic statistics by the second half of that year.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Vice Chairman Jim Saxton welcomed remarks by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) former research director, Kenneth Rogoff, who said in a recent issue of The Economist that “the Fund would serve better if it made no loans.” Professor Rogoff's statement came at the same time as the IMF's independent evaluation office documented the negative outcome of the Fund's lending activities in Argentina. The recent developments are consistent with the Joint Economic Committee's findings regarding the counterproductive nature of IMF loan subsidies.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The employment growth in August is positive news that reflects the ongoing expansion in the U.S. economy, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The latest data on manufacturing activity and construction continue to show solid economic growth, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton of the Joint Economic Committee said today.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report shows that the tax share of income for the middle fifth of households declined after 2001 to its lowest levels since at least 1979, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Under the recent tax relief legislation, the income tax as a share of income for the middle fifth also has fallen to its lowest levels in decades.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tax data indicate that differences in the amount of tax benefits under recent tax relief legislation are mostly due to initial differences in the income taxes paid by various income groups, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Often figures are released showing that higher income taxpayers receive a higher average amount of income tax relief than do lower and middle income taxpayers, without disclosure of the initial amount of income taxes paid.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows how tax relief legislation has reduced the tax burden of middle income taxpayers, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. As its title indicates, the CBO study, Effective Tax Rates Under Current Law, 2001 to 2014, focuses on changes in effective tax rates - federal taxes as a share of income - for various groups of taxpayers.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 3.0 percent advance in real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the second quarter of 2004, along with data from the three preceding quarters, resulted in a growth rate of 4.8 percent over the last year, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. In today's release by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the first quarter growth rate also was revised upward from 3.9 percent to 4.5 percent. Although the second quarter growth rate was somewhat lower than expected, it too is subject to revision by the BEA.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Recently released data reveal that charitable bequests have reached a new all-time high since the enactment of the phased-in repeal of the estate tax, noted Vice-Chairman Jim Saxton today. The data contradict claims of opponents of estate tax repeal who have long argued that cutting the estate tax will reduce charitable bequests.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The notion that the U.S. economy was in excellent condition in 2000 is not consistent with standard data on output, manufacturing employment, earnings, the stock market and other measures, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. After the stock market bubble burst in the first quarter of 2000, the growth of output and investment plunged in the second half of the year. In the third quarter of 2000, the economy actually shrank.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A typical four-person family will receive at least $1,948 in tax benefits in tax year 2004 from tax legislation passed since 2001, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Between 2001 and 2004, the amount of tax relief for this family would amount to at least $5,480. Saxton based his remarks on a Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study entitled, Income Tax Savings for Middle-Income Families, which examines how the 10 percent tax rate, marriage penalty relief, and expanded child credit affect a four-person, married-couple family.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressional interest in price stability legislation goes back many decades to the early years of the Federal Reserve, according to a new study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The study, Price Stability and Inflation Targets: A Legislative History, examines the history of Congressional efforts to mandate price stability in monetary policy, culminating in the development of the first inflation targeting legislation, which was introduced by Saxton in 1997.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new Census Bureau study showing the extent of the movement of households between different income groups over a relatively short period provides much useful information to policymakers and the public, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The study ranks surveyed households by 1996 income levels, from lowest to highest, divides the total number of households into fifths (quintiles), and assigns households to the appropriate income quintile, from the lowest to the highest.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - An examination of employment data for the last year indicates that most of the net increase in employment is in relatively well-paid occupations, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The employment data classified by occupational categories are published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The June payroll employment increase pushes the total employment gain since last August up to 1.5 million, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to new data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, payroll employment increased 112,000 in June. Saxton also noted that monthly variation in payroll employment growth is not at all unusual.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The continued expansion of manufacturing activity in June provides more evidence of the strength and breadth of the economic upswing, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to data released today by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the level of its index of manufacturing activity was 61.1 percent in June. The Institute noted that “the manufacturing sector grew at a slightly slower, but still aggressive rate in June.” Index values above 50 indicate expansion of manufacturing activity.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - An examination of recent employment growth by occupation reveals that most of the net increase in employment reflects job growth in occupations that pay relatively well, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton also noted today's release of other data showing that disposable personal income increased at a 4.9 percent rate in the first quarter of 2004, after adjustment for inflation.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The strength of the U.S. economy is documented in a new report released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The report, Current Economic Conditions and Outlook, examines the health of the economy using a wide variety of standard measures of output, employment, financial markets, manufacturing, housing, and inflation. Over the last three quarters, output (GDP) has grown 5.6 percent after adjustment for inflation, manufacturing has rebounded, and employment has surged.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The May rise in industrial production provides yet more evidence of strong economic performance, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to new Federal Reserve data released today, industrial production -- the output of manufacturing, mining, and electric and gas utilities -- increased by 1.1 percent last month. Meanwhile, manufacturing output advanced by 0.9 percent, nearly reaching its peak of June 2000.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Strong retail and food services sales in May provide the latest sign of healthy economic growth, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Today the Commerce Department released new data showing a sizeable 1.2 percent gain in retail and food services sales last month.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The need for President Ronald Reagan’s economic policies was displayed in the bipartisan 1980 annual report of the Joint Economic Committee, entitled Plugging in the Supply Side, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today in re-releasing this report. The report noted the slowdown in the economy then underway, the acceleration of inflation, and the need for tax cuts to boost saving, investment, and economic growth.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - It is a pleasure to welcome Commissioner Utgoff once again to testify on the monthly employment statistics.

   This morning the Commissioner brings more good news for American workers. According to the establishment survey, payroll employment increased by 248,000 in May. Furthermore, upward revisions pushed the level of March job gains to 353,000, and April job growth to 346,000. Manufacturing employment increased by 32,000 in May. So far this year, payroll employment has increased by more than 1 million jobs.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The hearing room has been changed to 1334 Longworth House Office Building.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The most recent economic data reflect broad strength in the economy, including in the manufacturing sector, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The Institute for Supply Management's index of manufacturing activity increased to 62.8 percent in May, “continuing its recent strong performance,” according to the Institute. Separately, today new Census Bureau data showed that construction spending in April posted a new record high, and last week an upward revision pushed first quarter GDP growth to 4.4 percent.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 was the primary factor sowing the seeds of economic weakness for several subsequent years, according to a new Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. The new study, Macroeconomic Performance Since 2000, analyzes how the impact of the bursting stock market bubble undermined investment and economic growth, and aggravated ongoing problems in the manufacturing sector.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new analysis identifying massive loan subsidies provided to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) underscores the need for improved U.S. budgetary treatment of IMF subsidies as well as for IMF lending reforms, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton has introduced legislation, H.R. 3533, to more fully account for the costs of U.S. participation in the IMF, and make them subject to annual appropriations.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The bursting of the stock market and technology bubbles four years ago in 2000 led to a sharp economic slowdown and stagnation of income growth, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The stock market bubble had encouraged over-investment by reducing the cost of capital, but its bursting led to a dramatic decline in investment that hobbled the economy for several years. Between its peak in early March and the last week of May 2000, the bursting of the largest stock market bubble in several generations resulted in a drop of over 1,700 points in the Nasdaq, a decline of 35 percent. This stock market collapse continued in 2000, as its effects spilled over into many other areas of the economy.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 0.8 percent rise in industrial production for April is another sign of the economy's strength in the second quarter, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The new data also reflect an increase of 0.7 percent in manufacturing output in April, its eighth increase in a row. Saxton based his statement on a Federal Reserve release of new data on industrial production - a measure of the output of manufacturing, mines and utilities.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - I am pleased to welcome Commissioner Utgoff once again to testify on the monthly employment statistics.

   According to the payroll survey, employment increased by 288,000 in April, following a revised gain of 337,000 in March. The April payroll employment gains were broad based, as reflected in the diffusion index remaining well over 50 in April. The one-month diffusion index has been above 50 for the last four months. Manufacturing employment increased for the third consecutive month. Overall, 1.1 million payroll jobs have been created since last August.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Newly released data on manufacturing activity show that economic strength continued into the second quarter of 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The respected Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index of manufacturing activity was 62.4 percent in April. Index levels in excess of 50 percent reflect expansion of manufacturing activity. In addition, new March construction data posted an all-time high.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 4.2 percent first quarter growth rate reported by the Commerce Department is consistent with a broad array of other economic data showing a healthy and balanced economic expansion, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The first quarter increase in real gross domestic product (GDP) reflects continued strength in the U.S. output of goods and services, adjusted for inflation.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The G7 nations’ call for a strategic review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was welcomed today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. Saxton has longed advocated reform of IMF policies, including a focus on crisis lending and an end to IMF loan subsidies. In 1998, Saxton also pointed out the amazing lack of IMF accounting controls and lending safeguards through its entire history of sizeable bailouts. Saxton recently introduced legislation requiring that IMF loan subsidies be presented in the annual budget submission and subject to annual appropriations.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new study released by Lipper, Inc. examining the taxation of mutual fund investors was welcomed today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). The Lipper study, Taxes in the Mutual Fund Industry--2004, finds that taxes are the largest drag on shareholder returns over the long run. Several years ago Saxton developed and introduced the first legislation providing for tax deferral on reinvested capital gain distributions made by mutual funds to individual shareholders.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - It gives me great pleasure to join in welcoming Chairman Greenspan once again before the Joint Economic Committee.

   The evidence shows that the U.S. economy has displayed amazing resilience in recent years, and has now emerged from a painful adjustment process. The bursting of the stock market and technology bubbles began in 2000. The subsequent economic slowdown and recession, terrorist attacks, and wars harmed the economy, but did not prevent the current economic expansion, which began in November of 2001.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The federal tax cuts of the last few years have put the United States near or at the top among advanced large economies in offering incentives to work, save, and invest, according to a new Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study released by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton.

   The new study, How Competitive Is the U.S. Tax System?, compares major tax rates in 2003 in the United States versus those in the world's eight other largest advanced economies: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The misery index, a gauge of economic well-being widely used by economists for decades, remains more favorable than in most years of the last three decades, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The misery index is the sum of the civilian unemployment rate and the inflation rate. Since both unemployment and inflation are undesirable, the lower the misery index, the better. In 2003, the misery index was about 7 percent, a fraction of its 20 percent level reached in 1980, for example. Saxton has periodically taken note of the level of the misery index as an indicator of economic well-being, most recently in a report he released last February.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Taxes, not fees and expenses, remain the biggest cost to mutual fund shareholders, according to a new study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. A most serious tax impact comes from how income taxes on capital gain distributions significantly reduce investment returns, according to the new JEC study, Providing Tax Equity for Mutual Fund Investors: Changing the Tax Treatment of Capital Gain Distributions. This tax liability occurs when mutual funds realize capital gains that then must be passed on to mutual fund shareholders, even if the investors sold none of their mutual fund shares.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - I am pleased to welcome Commissioner Utgoff once again before the Joint Economic Committee.

   The figures released this morning are good news for American workers. According to the payroll survey, employment increased by 308,000 in March. Moreover, payroll employment growth was revised upward to 159,000 in January and 46,000 in February. The data reported today show that 759,000 jobs have been added to payrolls since August 2003. The BLS describes the unemployment rate as about unchanged.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The March increase in a respected index of manufacturing activity offers further confirmation of the strength of the U.S. economy in the first quarter of 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) today released data showing that its index of manufacturing activity (PMI) climbed 1.1 percentage points to a level of 62.5 percent in March. The ISM index of manufacturing employment increased for the fifth month in a row to a level of 57.0 percent. Index levels above 50 percent indicate expansion.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) will hold a hearing on the March employment data to be released on Friday, April 2, 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) announced today. Dr. Kathleen P. Utgoff, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will testify.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The contention that the tax relief legislation of recent years caused the swing from the large surpluses projected in 2001 to large deficits is contradicted by the facts, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton pointed out that the static revenue cost of this tax legislation would have left significant surpluses throughout the decade. Huge economic and technical re-estimates, including the effects of the bursting of the stock market bubble and the economic slowdown and recession, as well as terrorist attacks, wars, and other factors, have erased the surpluses and pushed the budget into deficit. In January of 2001, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected $5.6 trillion in cumulative budget surpluses through 2011, but economic and technical revisions alone reduced this amount by over $3 trillion.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The pattern of economic slowdown following the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 has been very similar in the major advanced economies, according to a new study released today by Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. After the sharp decline in the stock markets of the advanced economies, investment slowed dramatically, industrial production fell, and unemployment increased in all, according to the new Joint Economic Committee study, International Economic Performance Since the Stock Market Bubble. The study also shows that in the subsequent expansion period, the U.S. economy has performed relatively well compared to the other advanced economies. The study examines the macroeconomic performance of the U.S., European Union, Japan, and Canada.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today’s Federal Reserve statement and the inevitable speculation about its meaning for future changes in monetary policy illustrate the need for inflation targeting, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said. Saxton has introduced H.R. 2547, a bill to encourage the Fed to use inflation targets in setting monetary policy geared towards price stability.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Federal Reserve's release of new data showing an increase in February industrial production is in line with other data showing that healthy economic growth continues in 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to the Fed release, industrial production climbed 0.7 percent in February, while manufacturing production gained 1.0 percent.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Argentina's narrow avoidance of a default to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on March 9 highlights the need to recognize the risk in lending by international financial institutions, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton has introduced legislation, H.R. 3533, requiring that the real cost of U.S. subsidies to the IMF be disclosed in the federal budget, and made subject to the Congressional appropriations process.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - It is a pleasure to join in welcoming the panel of witnesses appearing before the Joint Economic Committee today.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The most important legacy left by resigning International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Horst Koehler is the implementation of critically needed IMF lending safeguards and accounting controls, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. One of the reasons Saxton had opposed the 1998 quota increase for the IMF was a Joint Economic Committee staff discovery that basic IMF lending safeguards and accounting controls had not been in place throughout the IMF's entire history of lending.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Kerry's claims that Bush Administration policies have caused the decline in manufacturing employment are contradicted by the fact that this trend began years before the current Administration or its policies were in place, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Manufacturing employment has trended downward for many years, but reached a recent cyclical high in March of 1998.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - New figures showing increases in February manufacturing activity released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) provide more evidence that the manufacturing sector expansion continues, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. The ISM survey of manufacturing activity remained at a high level in February, although below the very high level posted in January. The ISM index of manufacturing employment reflected growth for the fourth month in a row. The ISM releases today are of diffusion indexes that denote expansion when index values are above 50.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Vice Chairman Jim Saxton released a new Joint Economic Committee report today showing the strength of the economy as reflected in a wide variety of standard macroeconomic measures. The report, Current Economic Conditions and Outlook, examines recent trends in economic growth, investment, consumption, housing, the stock market, employment, inflation, interest rates, and other economic indicators.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator John Kerry's recent attempts to blame declines in manufacturing employment on Bush Administration policies are misleading because this downward trend was well underway before President Bush and his policies were even in place, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton pointed out that by the time President Bush took office, over half a million manufacturing jobs had already been lost in the preceding 33 months, and about three fifths of manufacturers surveyed were reporting declines or stagnation in their payrolls. Manufacturing employment reached a cyclical peak of 17.6 million in March of 1998, and has trended downward ever since.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The current medical liability system is a cause of insurance and health cost increases and restricts access to health care, making medical liability reform imperative, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton has released two Joint Economic Committee studies on the subject: Liability for Medical Malpractice: Issues and Evidence, and Medical Malpractice Reform: Perspectives on Recent Findings by the GAO.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Newly released figures on industrial production provide more hard evidence that the expansion continues into 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. A new Federal Reserve release shows that industrial production increased in January, and that its manufacturing component was up 0.3 percent. Since January 2003 manufacturing production has increased 2.3 percent.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The contention that the current structure of the income tax is designed to favor the affluent is a myth refuted by IRS data, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to the latest data available, the top one percent of tax filers ranked by income account for 33.9 percent of all personal income tax payments, while the top half account for 96.0 percent of these taxes. The bottom half of tax filers account for 4.0 percent of all income tax payments, excluding the impact of refundable tax credits that would further reduce this percentage. The threshold dividing the top and bottom halves of tax filers is an income level of $28,528.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The rise in employment and decline in unemployment continued in January, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey, the unemployment rate slipped to 5.6 percent in January, while employment increased by 496,000. The Bureau's payroll measure of employment also increased, but by a more moderate amount of 112,000.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - New data from the respected Institute for Supply Management (ISM) show the economic expansion continues to accelerate into 2004, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton referred to both the ISM index of manufacturing as well as the ISM index of non-manufacturing activity. Both indexes have recently reached levels in excess of the boom years of the late 1990s.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - A typical four-person family will receive at least $1,933 in tax benefits this tax filing season from tax legislation passed since 2001, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. In addition, according to a Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study Saxton released, the benefits to this family between 2001 and 2004 would amount to at least $5,480. The study, Income Tax Savings for Middle-Income Families, examines how the 10 percent tax rate, marriage penalty relief, and expanded child credit would affect a four-person, married-couple family.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The solid 4 percent real growth rate posted in the fourth quarter of 2003 shows that the economic expansion is on a firm footing, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Saxton also noted the continued strength of business investment as an indication that solid economic growth would continue into 2004.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - The tax relief legislation passed in recent years has provided thousands of dollars in tax savings to typical families and should not be tampered with, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today in releasing a new study on the topic. The study, Income Tax Savings for Middle-Income Families, focuses on the impact of recent tax changes on four person, married couple families.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Adoption of inflation targets by the Federal Reserve would reduce uncertainty and clarify the framework for monetary policy decisions, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. In the absence of such a framework, even small nuances of change, as in today's policy statement, will be subject to intense scrutiny about their precise meaning. Saxton has introduced H.R. 2547, a bill to encourage the Fed to use inflation targets in setting a monetary policy geared towards price stability.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Virtually all of the net payroll job loss in recent years is accounted for by the manufacturing sector, and this decline in factory jobs began before the current Administration took office, Vice Chairman Jim Saxton said today. Opponents of the Administration have repeatedly claimed that its policies have caused the decline in manufacturing employment, but fail to explain how this trend began long before any changes in policy took place. The facts show that manufacturing employment reached a cyclical peak in 1998, trending downward thereafter. Consecutive monthly declines in manufacturing employment began in 2000. Moreover, manufacturing employment has been trending downward over a much longer period.

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   WASHINGTON, D.C. - Medical malpractice insurance continues to be plagued by rapidly escalating premiums, which in turn threaten the availability and affordability of medical care, according to Vice Chairman Jim Saxton. Two recent studies confirm that these problems persisted through 2002 and 2003.

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