Economic warning sign: Unemployment insurance claims continue steady three-month rise

July 7, 2022, Fairfax, Va.- President of Americans for Limited Government Rick Manning issued the following statement reacting to the release of weekly Unemployment Insurance Claims by the US Department of Labor.

Weekly unemployment insurance claims filed in the week ending July 2 by the US Department of Labor sent another warning sign that the overall economy is tipping toward recession as jobless claims continued their gradual creep upward.  The seasonally adjusted claims climbed by 4000 to 235,000, while the four-week average nudged up 750. In a vacuum these numbers are not bad, but the steady increase of claims since April second’s low water mark of 166,000 cannot be ignored. What is more, the overall number of people on unemployment insurance rose by 51000 last week, indicating that the ability of the economy to fully absorb newly unemployed may have reached a tipping point.

It must be noted that the weekly unemployment insurance claims report is notoriously volatile, but a trend that lasts for almost a full quarter cannot be ignored.

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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Inflation Continues to Surge Across All Items

Congressional Republicans need to say no to the partisan spending boondoggle

Fairfax, VA. – Consumer prices rose 0.9 percent in June, according to data released Tuesday by the Labor Department, heating up from the previous month.

The consumer price index (CPI), a closely watched gauge of inflation, increased to an annualized rate of 5.4 percent last month amid a summer rush of economic activity.

Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning issued the following statement in reaction to the news:

“Inflation continues to surge across all items at an annualized rate of 5.4%.  But prices are not really rising at that low of a level, in the five months since Joe Biden entered the White House, the rate has grown at .66% each month or a 7.9 percent annualized inflation rate.  Every consumer sees the price increases, and according to the BLS, the pain of higher prices was spread throughout the economy in June.  What is the answer to this hidden government tax which results from wanton spending?  Stop or slow the spending.  This means that Republicans in Congress need to just say no to the Biden/Pelosi/Schumer partisan spending boondoggle which they call an infrastructure plan.  America broke the bank to recover from the Chinese virus, it is time for the federal government to tighten its belt rather than accelerate price increases.

“Everyone loses under inflation, but those with the least disposable income and those on fixed incomes are hurt the worse.  There should be a bipartisan agreement to stop fueling the destruction of the value of the American dollar, but spending in DC is like heroin, it is hard for politicians to kick the habit.  The American people need to stage an intervention and tell Congress to stop the spending now.”

For media availability contact Catherine Mortensen at cmortensen@getliberty.org or 703.478.4643