SBE Council Chief Economist on Initial Jobless Claims

Today, Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), released the following statement in response to the latest initial jobless claims released by the Department of Labor:

"The second week in a row of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims coming in at 351,000 is a clear plus. That's the lowest level since early March 2008. And the trend, though uneven, has been positive since mid-September of last year.

"While moving below the 400,000 initial claims level is important, it must be pointed out that during periods of solid economic growth, initial jobless claims generally run in the range of 270,000 to 330,000. So, we still have plenty of work to do.

"Our economic recovery remains uncertain, uneven and under-performing largely due to an adverse policy climate for business and investment. To return to robust economic and employment growth, there needs to be a shift from anti-growth tax, regulatory and government spending policies to a pro-growth policy structure of tax and regulatory relief, and smaller government."

SBE Council Chief Economist on Latest Jobs Data

Today, Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), released the following statement in response to the January employment data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

"The resiliency of U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs was on full display in the latest jobs numbers. No matter which survey is chosen - the establishment (or payroll) survey or the household survey - the jobs story for January was good.

"In fact, the household survey, which better captures startup and small business activity, was particularly strong. After factoring out population adjustments that the BLS puts into effect in January, compared to December, January employment was up by a robust 631,000, which was the biggest leap since November 2007.

"Just imagine what U.S. entrepreneurs, business and investors could be accomplishing if policymaking was shifted in a pro-growth direction of permanent and substantive tax and regulatory relief, less government spending, an aggressive free trade agenda, and sound monetary policy focused on price stability."