• info@belibre.org

Data Show Middle Class Shrinking

PRINTABLE VERSION

Data Show Middle Class Shrinking
Monthly Jobs Report Disappointing for Latino Community  

(Washington, D.C.) – Today the Obama Administration released another in what has become a series of mediocre jobs reports. The unemployment rate remains stuck at 6.7 percent, and 3.7 million Americans are among the long-term unemployed, with poor prospects for finding rewarding employment soon. The unemployment rate among the nation's Latinos is higher than the national average – at 7.9 percent. And the number of Latinos forced into part-time employment when they would prefer full-time work increased by 30,000. This is particularly disappointing in light of a new report from the National Urban League that shows the underemployment rate for Latinos in America is a shocking 18.4 percent. 

These weak results come as Americans increasingly feel themselves falling out of the middle class. According to the findings of the Pew Research Center, just 25 percent of Americans considered themselves "lower middle class" or "lower class" in February, 2008, against 40 percent today. The University of Chicago's General Social Survey finds similar results – with the percentage of Americans who call themselves "middle class" or "working class" at its lowest level on record.  

Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative, released the following statement: 

"According to the White House, America is in the fifth year of an economic recovery. But this recovery feels like a lengthy recession to most working Americans. The President and his allies in Congress mean well, but after years of these anti-growth policies, the middle class is shrinking. The ranks of the long-term unemployed are in the millions. The unemployment rate is high. And Latinos are increasingly left behind, and millions now also have to endure the high costs of Obamacare premiums imposed on them. 

It's clear the American people want a new approach, but all they hear from Washington are the same, tired talking points dripped in blame and excuses. It is time for new ideas. The Administration must work with Congress to rein in out-of-control spending and debt, and to reform the over-regulation that prevents small businesses and entrepreneurs from hiring. That's the way to achieve real growth, and it is time for Washington to give it a try."

For interviews with a LIBRE representative, please contact: Brian Faughnan, 703-678-4581 or Steven Cruz, 202-578-6173.

###