August poised for strong job growth, continuing US employment expansion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The number of Americans filings new claims for unemployment declined last week for the third consecutive week, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced today. The U.S. economy has added jobs for 11 consecutive months and claims for unemployment insurance data indicate strong job growth in the month of August.
"The labor market continues to strengthen thanks to President Bush\’s tax cut," said ATR President Grover Norquist. "By lifting the tax burden on working Americans and small businesses, President Bush has given our economy the fuel it needs to add create new jobs."
The number of new unemployment filings fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 331,000 in the week ended August 14. The four-week average of new unemployment claims also declined by 2,500 this week. Claims for initial unemployment has declined by 16 percent since this time last year and 24 percent since the tax cut was put into place last year.
"We need to keep President Bush\’s tax relief in place so we can keep sending Americans back to work," continued Norquist. "If we allow John Kerry and the Democrats to impose job killing tax increases, scores of jobs will go right along with them."
Since last August, the economy has created 1.5 million jobs. The unemployment has fallen 5.5% percent from a high of 6.2% and is at its\’ lowest rate since June 2003 and lower than the average rates from the 1970\’s, 80\’s and 90\’s.