U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Archived Content)

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

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President Bush’s jobs and growth tax relief plan has helped millions of American families and businesses, has reinvigorated the U.S. economy, and is driving job creation.

America’s economy is strong and getting stronger.

•  Without the President’s needed tax relief plan, by the end of this year real GDP would be about 3.5 to 4 percent lower.
• Instead, in the last half of 2003 we witnessed the strongest economic growth in nearly 20 years.
• The strength of the economy’s underlying fundamentals indicates economic activity will continue above the historical average.

•  If not for the President’s timely economic growth measures, by the end of this year the unemployment rate would be as much as 1.6 percentage points higher and as many as 3 million fewer Americans would be working.
• But because of the President’s commitment to strengthen the environment for job creation, and the positive impact of his tax relief measures, over three-quarters of a million new jobs were created over the past seven months, 308,000 in March alone.
• At 5.7 percent, the unemployment rate remains lower than the average of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and far below its peak of 6.3 percent in June of 2003.
• Over the past year the unemployment rate has fallen in 45 of the 50 states.
• Weekly first-time claims for unemployment insurance have dropped to the lowest point in over three years and continuing jobless claims are at a 32-month low. [Chart attached]
• According to one private sector measure, layoffs in the first three months of this year were the lowest in four years, suggesting continued improvement in the job market.

• Real after-tax incomes are up 10 percent since December of 2000 and are substantially above levels following the last recession.
• Buoyed by the return of the stock market and strong home values, household wealth is at a record high. After five consecutive quarterly increases, household net worth is up by almost $6 trillion, reaching over $44 trillion at the end of last year.

• Despite predictions by some that the tax relief plan would cause interest rates to rise, interest rates are near a 40-year low.
• Homeownership is at an all-time high – 68.6 percent – with substantial gains among minority homeowners.
• After posting record breaking numbers last year, new and used home sales continue at high levels.
• New home construction remains strong after hitting its highest level in 25 years in 2003.
• More Americans have refinanced in the past three years than in the entire 1990s combined, allowing millions of U.S. families to reduce their monthly mortgage payments.
• Additionally, the amount of cash Americans are getting out of their homes has set a record high the past three years, averaging over $100 billion a year since 2001 – compared to an annual average of $23 billion through much of the 1990s.

America has a choice: It can continue to grow the economy and create new jobs as the President's policies are doing; or it can raise taxes on American families and small businesses, hurting economic recovery and future job creation.

REPORTS

• Initial Claims for Unemployment Graph