The Weekly Standard — Alabama senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican, is marking Labor Day with a statement lamenting the decline in America’s workforce and the strident push toward passing an immigration bill.
First, Sessions focuses on the sorry state of the American economy, where the unemployment rate is a staggering 7.4 percent. “As the nation recognizes Labor Day too many Americans remain without work,” says Sessions in his statement.
“A new study confirms that the labor-force participation rate is at a thirty-year low – meaning that small improvements in the employment rate have masked the deeper trend of a shrinking labor force with more people retiring early, going on disability, turning to welfare, and giving up looking for work altogether. Another troubling indicator is the record-high teenage unemployment: in 1999, half of teenagers had a summer job; today, it’s a mere third. Wages are also lower today than they were in 1999. Meanwhile, 1 in 3 without a high school diploma remains without a job. This is more than temporary problem but an alarming trend: the workforce is shrinking and the welfare rolls are expanding…
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