PRESS RELEASE: STATEMENT: JOBLESS CLAIMS SHOW GOOD TRAJECTORY BUT BUILD BACK BETTER INVESTMENTS NEEDED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2021

Contact:
Maddy McDaniel, Communications Director
[email protected] or 914-471-7716

STATEMENT: JOBLESS CLAIMS SHOW GOOD TRAJECTORY BUT BUILD BACK BETTER INVESTMENTS NEEDED

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen:“We’ve grown used to America as the world’s pre-eminent economic power. We aren’t destined to stay that way, but with these investments, I believe we will.”

POLLING: 66% of Voters — including 60% of Independents — Support Passing the $3.5T Build Back Better Plan Through Reconciliation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jobless claims fell slightly by 14,000 last week, as 385,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment figures have been trending downward thanks to the American Rescue Plan, but more investment is needed for a sustainable, equitable economic recovery.

The report comes a day after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke in Atlanta about the need to pass the Build Back Better agenda, saying it would “repair the broken foundations of our economy” and “build something fairer and stronger than what came before.”

Invest in America’s spokesperson Maddy McDaniel issued the following statement:

“The downward trend in jobless claims over the past few months is proof that the U.S. economy is growing stronger thanks to the public investments in the American Rescue Plan, which helped Americans get vaccinated, return to work, and increase their personal income.

“But our economy has not yet recovered to its full potential — we need the public investments in the Build Back Better agenda to stabilize and further strengthen the economy. Together, the plans will drive economic growth, create millions of jobs, and reduce our current inequities.

“It’s clear that now is the time to make these critical investments in infrastructure, clean energy, caregiving, and education — by doing so, we’ll create good-paying jobs, lower costs and reduce taxes for middle-class families.”

The investments in President Biden’s full Build Back Better agenda will create millions of jobs and boost overall productivity:

According to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, a $1.5 trillion investment in hard infrastructure would create more than 10 million jobs:

A study from the UMass Amherst Political Economy Research Institute found that $225 billion in care investment would create over 5 million jobs in over 10 years.
Research from the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst found that between 1 million and 1.2 million clean energy jobs per year would be generated by the Build Back Better agenda.

The Build Back Better agenda would create jobs all across the country, including:

332,630+ jobs in Arizona
62,000+ jobs in New Hampshire
81,900+ jobs in West Virginia
390,000+ jobs in Virginia
See the full list here.

Economists are available to discuss the implications of this week’s jobless claims — reach out to [email protected] to get in touch.

About Invest in America

Invest In America is a national rapid response operation advocating for robust public investment to rescue the economy from the COVID crisis and create prosperity for the future, and to fight back against fear-mongers who use deficit concerns as a scapegoat to starve American communities and businesses of resources.

The operation consists of two components: Invest in America, the charitable and public education arm, which is a fiscally sponsored project of Economic Security Project funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Economic Security Project co-chair Chris Hughes; and Invest in America Action, the advocacy and social welfare arm, which is a fiscally sponsored project of Economic Security Project Action funded by Chris Hughes and the Omidyar Network.

Learn more at InvestInAmericaNow.com and @InvestNowUSA, and InvestinAmericaProject.com.

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