The Biden-Harris administration got the jobs report it asked for on the eve of the election after the Federal Reserve broke longstanding tradition and cut interest rates by 50 basis points to juice the economy.
More than 250,000 jobs were created in September, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%.
But can Americans trust the numbers? The government has downwardly revised its job numbers so often that onlookers should take this pre-election report from the Harris administration with a heavy dose of salt.
Even still, the jobs report is not all rosy. More than 40% of new jobs created were in the government or quasi-government healthcare and social services sectors. Manufacturing jobs declined.
Five hundred thousand more Americans are unemployed versus this timeĀ last year. And the number of multiple jobholders reached a new high as Americans struggleĀ with the cost-of-living crisis.
For a better reflection ofĀ the labor market and economy, talk to ordinary small business owners, whoĀ are shedding jobs, not creating them.Ā Small businesses are facing a severe cash flow shortage as consumers are tapped out, with credit card debtĀ at a record high.
āMain Street is struggling,āĀ saysĀ Adam Morris, the owner of Your Brotherās Bookstore in Evansville, Indiana.
āPeople just donāt have money to spend on wants,ā said Evansville comic-book store owner, Jeff Osborne, in a representative comment I hear from small businesses daily. āThey donāt even have money to spend on what they need from day to day right now.ā
āFor the middle class, itās terrible,ā Osborne continues. āPeople are going to stay at home more. Theyāre gonna eat at home more. Thereās going to be a lot of mom-and-pop restaurants folding in the coming months.ā
A Kamala Harris presidency would be a final blow for small business owners barely hanging on. Consider this weekās port strike as a coming attraction of the labor strife that would define her presidency.
The longshoremen and the shippers came to a temporary deal Thursday night following immense pressure by the Harris administration concerned about the strike hurting her polling.
The shutdown of ports from Boston to Houston would have done severe damage toĀ the economy, including the rebuilding from Hurricane Helene, where one million remain without power, and downstream small businesses in warehousing, trucking, and across Main Street.
Major strikes like this one would become commonplace under a Harris administration. Harris supports radical labor legislation known as the Pro Act, which will forcibly unionize countless small businesses and empower unions to strike continuously, paralyzing the economy.
For years, Democrats have based their economic agenda around strongerĀ unions (and even some on the new right have parroted this message). It sounds good in theory, but the port strike gave the American people a front-row seat ofĀ what extortionate union demands look like in practice. This episode should be a wake-up call for policymakers and commentators supporting unions over small businesses.
More broadly,Ā Harris supports inflationary spending, tax hikes, and business regulations that make it harder for entrepreneurs to hire, raise wages, and expand.Ā She wants toĀ raise taxes by a record $5 trillionĀ and let the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire. She wants to take away Americansā gas-powered vehicles, including small businessesā work trucks and delivery vans.
No wonder JCNāsĀ latest national poll finds small business owners support former President Donald Trump over Harris by 30%.
All Americans should join small businesses and focus on Harris and Trumpās records while in office, not their rhetoric on the campaign trail ā or the governmentās election-eve jobs numbers.
Alfredo Ortiz is CEO of Job Creators Network, author of āThe Real Race Revolutionaries,ā and co-host of the Main Street Matters podcast.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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