The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Released 4th Quarter Jobs Report, Showing the Economy continues to grow while inflation drops

WASHINGTON—On Friday, January 5, the U.S. Department of Labor released its fourth quarter jobs report, showing the economy added 216,000 additional jobs in December, in the midst of six consecutive months of lowering inflation rates. Jobs numbers for Indian Country were not included in the most recent jobs report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, though. National employment increased 2.4 percent over the year, with 337 of the 360 largest U.S. counties reporting gains. The White House says the added jobs come in the midst of lower rates of inflation, too, which looks like lower prices at the gas tank.

“The report confirms that 2023 was a great year for American workers,” said President Joseph Biden in a statement on Friday, January 5, 2024. “The economy created 2.7 million new jobs in 2023—a year when the unemployment rate was consistently below 4 percent—more jobs than during any year of the prior Administration.”

President Biden also said prices for key items have fallen over the last year. “For a gallon of gas, a gallon of milk, toys, appliances, car rentals, and airline fares. American workers’ wages and wealth are higher now than before the pandemic began, adjusting for inflation,” he said.

The unemployment rate for December was reported at 3.7 percent, which is unchanged from November. While employment numbers climbed in the fourth quarter for the government, health care, and social services industries, the transportation and warehouse industries shrunk in the same time period.

The increased jobs numbers report comes as a surprise to some, though. Economists predicted that only 175,000 jobs would be added in the final quarter of the year, according to a Bloomberg survey. White House Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Daniel Hornung said in an interview with Native Sun News that a year ago, most people thought the economy would lose jobs. “Instead, we have more jobs at the same time inflation has come down 2 percent each month over the last six months,” he said to Native Sun News Today. “Wages are higher than before the pandemic, and the President is focused on continuing to drive job growth and increased wages,” said Hornung of the latest jobs growth report.

What the jobs report and inflation numbers mean for the northern plains is an excellent job market, Hornung said. “With an increased progress of job growth in Nebraska, for example, at a 2.3% growth rate, and gas prices are significantly down, those are good signs that the economy is adjusting.”

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Minnehaha County, South Dakota’s only large county, had an employment increase of 4.0 percent from June 2022 to June 2023. Minnehaha County accounted for 29.7 percent of total employment within the state. The U.S. Dept. of Labor considers those with an annual average of employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2022 a large county. Jobs numbers for Indian Country were not included in the most recent jobs numbers report because reporting isn’t normally done, or collected, on a monthly basis said Hornung. The White House said it would provide numbers for Indian Country at a later date.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Public Law 115-93 requires the Secretary of Labor to issue a biennial report on the population eligible for the services which the Secretary of Interior provides of enrolled Indian people. The report is intended to include information by state and Bureau of Indian Affairs service areas, as well as information at the tribal level, for the the total service population including those under age 16 and over age 64, the population available for work, including those not actively seeking work, those employed, including those with annual earnings below the federal poverty line, and those employed in the private and public sectors. The report is mandated to be conducted in consultation with the Secretary of Interior, American Indian tribes, and the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. In February 2022, responsibility for preparing the report was transferred from the Employment and Training Administration to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Because the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not report monthly jobs numbers for American Indians and Alaskan Natives, collectively referred to as Native Americans, federally recognized tribes and tribal nations are largely left out of the conversation of the overall economy in the country. By omitting upwards of 574 federally recognized tribes and their economies out of the conversation, decisions that are often made for the larger economy do not reflect the needs of Indian Country. Because numbers are not included, it is an active form of erasure for a group of people that still must largely contend with exclusion from U.S. society. By excluding data regarding Native Americans, or Tribal Nations, from essential official reports that drive policy, the U.S. Dept. of Labor is demonstrating that Indian Country’s numbers do not exist.

While numbers not completely accurate for Indian Country, it’s impossible to build a transparent picture of economic growth and recovery if their numbers are not included. There are still many unknown numbers of pre and post-pandemic economic activity in Indian Country, but it has been known that economic inequalities that many Native Americans face have made the pandemic more challenging. While the recent jobs report is showcasing growth on a national level, how Indian Country is faring is still unknown.

(Contact Darren Thompson at darrenjthompson@hotmail.com)

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