Americans Are Back to Work. This Time, Nobody Wil be Left Behind.

     Just 3.6 percent of Americans are out of work, down from 6.7 percent when President Biden took office. Only three months in the past 50 years have seen the unemployment rate as low or lower than it is right now. That represents well over 8.3 million jobs in 16 months, a rate that has remained constant since Biden took office. Not only that, but unemployment insurance claims have dipped beneath ONE PERCENT for the first time in 50 years and the number of unemployed people is at its lowest level in decades.

     Low unemployment isn't the only thing that matters, however. Who exactly is unemployed and where also matters. As Congress considers the Honoring Our PACT Act, which would be the most significant bill for veterans in the modern era, veterans can also celebrate the news that the veteran unemployment rate has reached 2.4 percent, tying its lowest rate ever.

     As of April 2022, the unemployment rate for Hispanics in the United States is 4.1 percent, which is beneath pre-pandemic levels and close to going below its record low of 3.9 percent. While the white and Asian unemployment rates have remained relatively stagnant over the past few months along with the overall unemployment rate (which is okay, as hundreds of thousands of jobs are being created every month while the unemployment rate stays the same just as some prior months have seen few jobs created but the unemployment rate drop several percent), the Hispanic and black unemployment rates have continually seen steep drops each month. The Hispanic unemployment rate, once much higher than the white unemployment rate, is on track to fall in line with America's overall unemployment rate and stay there. While still much higher, the black unemployment rate has also seen an impressive drop to beneath its pre-pandemic levels: 5.9 percent; the current record low is 5.4 percent.

     In Nebraska, Utah, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Georgia, West Virginia, Montana, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Alabama, Arizona, Tennessee, Alaska, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Puerto Rico, states (and a territory) have all seen their unemployment rates hit record lows. In Nebraska and Utah, unemployment rates have even dipped below two percent, the lowest unemployment rates ever seen by any state since records began being kept in 1976. Meanwhile, in 26 other states plus Washington, D.C., economies are within a few months of hitting unprecedented lows in their unemployment rates. At the current rate, 45 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico could hit record low unemployment sometime before 2024. 

     The work is just beginning: just six states have returned to full pre-pandemic employment, and America can't be satisfied until each and every state, district, and territory has done so. Most industries have recovered, but some are still short of where they were two years ago. Professions like nurses, first responders, truckers, and teachers still suffer from critical shortages that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not a problem; this is an opportunity. States that have lagged behind the nation as a whole are seeing unprecedented progress on jobs. Every ethnicity could share similar unemployment rates by the end of the decade. Veterans are performing smashingly well in this job market, and a real fire has been lit to hire more community health workers, more first responders, more teachers, more manufacturers, and other critical jobs that are short-staffed. Passing the Bipartisan Innovation Act and Build Back Better Bills will spur even faster progress.

     In short, America is back to work. This time, nobody will be left behind. That's what building back better looks like.