Federal Update

Getting People Back to Work
 
Earlier this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the change over time in the price of consumer goods.  The U.S. economy has 11.5 million open jobs, but three million fewer workers than if labor force participation was equal to the pre-pandemic level. Getting people back to work across the U.S. will be key towards getting our inflation back in line.
 
 
Jobs Added in April, But Labor Participation Declines Again
 
The U.S. economy added 428,000 jobs in April. Expectations were around 400,000, so we slightly exceeded those.

Why it matters: Positive job growth is good news, but the labor force declined by 363,000. The participation rate lags too. If we had the same participation rate now as before the pandemic, there would be more than 3 million more workers in the labor force.
 
Dig deeper: Earlier this year the U.S. Chamber launched the America Works Data Center to distill trends on job openings, labor force participation, and employment, and explore the reasons behind our workforce shortage. 
 
 
What’s Behind High Energy Prices and What to Do About It
 
As energy prices and the cost of inflation rise, the Biden Administration can help control rising energy prices by expanding U.S. energy production.

Bottom line: Addressing these issues won’t instantly increase supplies. Energy production takes a great deal of lead time. However, the current lack of support for energy production policies will ensure that it remains far below where it could be and will keep investment on the sidelines, making us more reliant on foreign sources and ensuring that higher prices are here to stay.