Job Growth

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on one final matter, the evidence keeps mounting that with Republicans at the helm in the White House, the House, and the Senate, the American people are enjoying what amounts to the most pro-worker, pro-opportunity economic moment in recent history.

Already in 2018, the number of Americans who say it is a good time to find a quality job has risen to its highest level in at least 17 years of data on record. The jobs report released last week showed, in June, that the rate of hire throughout the United States hit an 11-year high.

Interestingly, American workers voluntarily left their jobs at the highest rate in 17 years. What that means--and I would like to drill down on that point for a moment--is that during the Obama administration, we heard a great deal of talk from our Democratic friends about a phenomenon they called job lock.

The idea was that many workers were trapped in jobs that did not pay enough or did not take full advantage of their skills because there weren't enough open opportunities to justify taking the leap and looking for a better position.

Republicans agreed with our Democratic colleagues that we could build a better economy for middle-class workers. We just didn't think tax increases and massive new regulations were the way to do it. Now, following a year and a half of Republican policies, including historic tax reform, the voluntary quit rate has hit a 17-year high. Workers now feel free to climb up the ladder and move on to bigger and better things.

I have just one more data point: This economy is thriving, and the Republicans' bold agenda is helping to make it happen.

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