Jobs

Study: Maryland County Would Lose 47,000 Jobs by 2022 if It Raises Minimum Wage to $15

A Maryland county could lose an estimated 47,000 jobs by 2022 if it chooses to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, according to a new study released Tuesday evening. The Washington Post reports that the study, which Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) commissioned, found that the majority of positions that would be eliminated were low-wage jobs. Leggett decided to move forward with the study after he vetoed a minimum wage increase in January. In explaining his decision to veto the minimum wage increase, he said the wage hike would devastate the economy in Montgomery County. PFM, the Philadelphia-based consulting group that carried out the study, found that a minimum wage hike to $15 would lead to a $396.5 million loss of income in Montgomery County by 2022. The loss of income would come from businesses deciding to lay off employees, cut hours and benefits for those that remain, and nix plans to hire new workers and open new locations. “We can’t minimize some of the impacts outlined here,” said Leggett, responding to the study’s results. “Even if it’s not 47,000 jobs lost, even if it’s half that, those are some startling numbers. You can’t discount ­it all.” County council member Marc Elrich, however, remains unconvinced of the study’s findings. Elrich proposed a bill that would raise the minimum wage in Montgomery County to $15 by 2022 a week before the study was due. He called the PFM study “nonsense,” saying it was impossible to predict how a wage increase would impact the future. Elrich also claimed that the study was biased because employers would be more likely to respond negatively. PFM’s study was conducted from April to June using electronic surveys, phone, and in-person interviews with business and nonprofit owners and community leaders. Several studies on minimum wage hikes conclude that they are bad for business — both for employers and employees. A Harvard Business School study from April found that minimum wage laws increase the chance that non-elite restaurants will go out of business. A June study from the University of Washington found that Seattle’s minimum wage hike is cutting employees’ salaries by $125 a month.

Raising the minimum wage arbitrarily is a foolish thing.  But, it’s trendy and popular in big cities and blue states where Dems are in control.   So, kudos to Mr. Leggett (D) in Montgomery County, Maryland for putting common sense ahead of a failed liberal Democrat agenda item.  Wages should be determined by the free marketplace; NOT some politician or silly, however popular, ballot initiative.

H-1B Visa Displaced American Workers, New Report Finds

The H-1B visa has led to American jobs being outsourced to India and displacement of U.S. workers, a new study confirms. The study by the Center for Global Development details how the widespread use of the H-1B visa has led to outsourcing and displacement of Americans while strengthening the pocketbooks of big business executives through “firm productivity” and “consumer welfare.” Every year, more than 100,000 foreign workers are brought to the U.S. on the H-1B visa and are allowed to stay for up to six years. That number has ballooned to potentially hundreds of thousands each year, as universities and nonprofits are exempt from the cap. With more entering the U.S. through the visa, Americans are often forced to train their replacements. The H-1B visa, according to researchers, is partly responsible for the outsourcing of American information technology (IT) jobs, as it led to a tech boom in India. “Indian students enrolled in engineering schools to gain employment in the rapidly growing US IT industry via the H-1B visa program,” the study states. “Those who could not join the US workforce, due to the H-1B cap, remained in India, and along with return-migrants, enabled the growth of an Indian IT sector, which led to the outsourcing of some production to India.” Researchers also admit that American workers, because of the importation of foreign workers through the H-1B visa, have been displaced and forced to take jobs in non-computer science careers. “The migration and rise in Indian exports induced a small number of US workers to switch to non-CS occupations, with distributional impacts,” the study states. Despite the researchers claiming the H-1B visa has made the U.S. and India “better off,” IT exports show otherwise. For instance, exports of IT goods from the U.S. has steadily declined since 1995. India, on the other hand, has enjoyed a steady rise of IT exports since 1995. The Center for Global Development study further confirmed previous research that indicates how American workers have gotten the short end of the stick while India has profited from frivolous U.S. immigration laws and visa programs.

Record 153,513,000 Employed in July; 62.9% Labor Force Participation

President Trump was awake early on this “employment report” Friday, tweeting about jobs, regulation-busting, and consumer confidence, among other things. A few hours later, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 209,000 jobs in July; the number of employed people jumped by 345,000 to 153,513,000 in July, setting a third straight monthly record; the number of Americans counted as not in the labor force, meaning they don’t have a job and are not looking for one, dropped for a third straight month to 94,657,000; and the nation’s unemployment rate also dropped a tenth of a point, to 4.3 percent. The labor force participation rate, held down in part by a wave of Baby Boomer retirements, was 62.9 percent in July, slightly better than it has been in recent months, but still close to its 38-year low of 62.4 percent in September 2015. (The record high was 67.3 percent in 2000.) In July, the nation’s civilian noninstitutionalized population, consisting of all people age 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 255,151,000. Of those, 160,494,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one. The 160,494,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.9 percent of the 255,151,000 civilian noninstitutionalized population.

More great news in this Trump economy!  To read the rest of this article, click on the text above.  Excellent!   🙂

Foxconn announces $10 billion investment in Wisconsin and up to 13,000 jobs

Foxconn Technology Group Wednesday pledged to invest $10 billion to build a display panel plant in Wisconsin that could employ up to 13,000 workers and draw up to $3 billion in subsidies from state taxpayers — a deal that could ripple through the economy and 2018 elections. “This is a great day for American workers and manufacturers and everyone who believes in the concept and the label ‘Made in the USA,’ ” said an ebullient President Donald Trump at the White House announcement.

Nice!!  To read the rest of this story, click on the text above.

BMW Adding 1,000 Jobs at South Carolina Plant

German carmaker BMW has announced it is adding one thousand new jobs to its manufacturing facilities in South Carolina. The Spartanburg plant, already the largest BMW facility in the U.S., will grow even larger with the company’s announced $600 million in new investments over the next four years, CNBC reported. “It’s a great day for us here in Spartanburg and South Carolina and for the BMW group,” BMW chairman Harald Kruger said. “The workforce will be well above 10,000 people, which is, in my view, clearly a symbol of success.” The improvements will mean that the plant will be able to produce as many as 450,000 new vehicles annually.

More jobs in this Trump economy!   🙂

Black Unemployment at Lowest Level in 17 Years

Unemployment among black Americans ages 16 years and over fell to 7.5 percent in May, its lowest level since December 2000. Black unemployment has been on the decline since February — falling from (February) 8.1, (March) 8.0, (April) 7.9, and (May) 7.5 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate in May was 4.3 percent, its lowest level since May 2001. Unemployment for black Americans has historically hovered below their white counterparts. The Great Recession drove black unemployment near Great Depression-era levels, reaching 16.8 percent in March 2010. While most Americans were feeling the negative affects of the housing crisis, it was black lawmakers who were beginning to publicly blame President Obama for black America’s morass. In August 2011, Congresswoman Maxine Waters called the black unemployment rate “unconscionable.” A month later, Waters hammered President Obama for failing to “acknowledge the economic disaster in the African American community” while addressing his jobs agenda in the battleground state of Iowa. Days later, then-Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver told reporters, “If Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House.” In a campaign speech in North Carolina last October, then-candidate Trump offered a “new deal” to black Americans based on three pillars — “safe communities, great education, and high-paying jobs.”

…And so far, the man has delivered.  Yet, the dominantly liberal mainstream media isn’t reporting on this at all.  But, had this happened under Obama, we’d be hearing about it non-stop.  Again, the liberal media is exposed for its brazen hypocrisy.  This is great news for the black community!  And, it’s happening on Trump’s watch; NOT Obama’s.   🙂

Americans Laid Off by H-1B, Outsourcing to Rally at White House

Americans who saw their jobs taken by foreign guest workers on the H-1B visa and outsourcing schemes will rally outside the White House before President Trump’s meeting with India’s Prime Minister. Attorney Sara Blackwell, who represents Americans laid off due to the H-1B visa and outsourcing, has organized the “You’re Fired” rally, named after the recent 60 Minutes special that exposed how American companies hire cheaper foreign workers. “You got our vote, now we want a voice,” the flyer for the rally reads, as it addresses Trump. Every year, more than 100,000 foreign workers are brought to the U.S. on the H-1B visa and allowed to stay for up to six years. That number has ballooned to potentially hundreds of thousands each year, as universities and non-profits are exempt from the cap. With more entering the U.S. through the visa, Americans are often replaced and forced to train their foreign replacements. Outsourcing and offshoring of Americans has similarly been a detriment to U.S. workers.

Indeed!  This is an out-of-control program that needs to be reeled in substantially, or cancelled altogether.  Let’s hope Pres. Trump hears these protesters!  To read the rest of this article, click on the text above.