Joint Economic Committee

Ranking Member-Designate

Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM)

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment situation for December 2016 on Friday, January 6, 2017. The private-sector added 144,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rose slightly to 4.7%.
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State unemployment rates for November were released on Friday, December 16, 2016. In November, there were 16 states with unemployment rates significantly lower than the national rate of 4.6 percent. Eleven states and the District of Columbia had rates significantly higher than the national rate and 23 states had rates that were not statistically different from the national rate.

Over the last several decades, there have been significant economic changes in the United States – many for the better. Our nation is more prosperous overall, more diverse and more productive than ever before. The U.S. economy remains the world’s largest and among the most innovative. For many Americans, economic growth has led to increased opportunity and prosperity.

But not everyone has shared in the gains of our growing economy. For workers whose education ended with high school, it is harder to achieve the success of their parents. These dozen charts highlight some of the ways that life has become more difficult for many Americans. Average hourly earnings are no higher than they were forty years ago. A typical worker’s wages, which once moved higher with productivity gains, now lag significantly behind overall productivity increases. A full-time worker earning the minimum wage took home over $7,000 more in 1968 than today, after adjusting for inflation. Fewer now have defined-benefit pensions while many people have no retirement plan at all.

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis released state-level GDP data for the second quarter of 2016 on Wednesday, December 7, 2016. The JEC Democratic staff analyzed the data and created a map showing real GDP growth by state over the past year (Q2 2015 to Q2 2016). The fastest real GDP growth from Q2 2015 to Q2 2016 was in Oregon (4.6 percent), followed by Washington (4.3 percent), Georgia (3.9 percent), Utah (3.4 percent) and New Hampshire (3.1 percent).

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis released state-level GDP data for the second quarter of 2016 on Wednesday, December 7, 2016. The JEC Democratic staff analyzed the data and created a table with a state-by-state breakdown of real GDP growth, including the percentage change over the past year, over the past three years, since the national low point for GDP in Q2 2009 and since the national prerecession peak in Q4 2007. The table shows that, over the past year (Q2 2015 to Q2 2016), real GDP grew in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Real GDP was higher in Q2 2016 than it was in Q4 2007 (the national prerecession peak) in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment situation for November 2016 on Friday, December 2, 2016. The private-sector added 156,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.6%. See our press release for additional information.
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Gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter of 2016 (second estimate) were released on Tuesday, November 29, 2016.  Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent.
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State unemployment rates for October were released on Friday, November 18, 2016. In October, there were 18 states with unemployment rates significantly lower than the national rate of 4.9 percent. Nine states and the District of Columbia had rates significantly higher than the national rate and 23 states had rates that were not statistically different from the national rate.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment situation for October 2016 on Friday, November 4, 2016. The private-sector added 142,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate edged down to 4.9%. See our press release for additional information.
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Gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter of 2016 (first estimate) were released on Friday, October 28, 2016.  Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent.

Joint Economic Committee
Democratic

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