Rep. Bob Good: April Jobs Won’t Solve Inflation, Spending.

Is the US Economy in Trouble?

Congressman Bob Good (R-Va.) Sees Warning Signs

The US economy is continuing to add new jobs, but Congressman Bob Good (R-Va.) sees warning signs for the economy going forward. On Friday, the US Labor Department reported that the United States added 253,000 jobs in April, beating a 180,000-job forecast for the month. This comes at the same time the US Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates in hopes of slowing inflation.

Raising the interest rate is meant to increase the cost of borrowing money in order to disincentivize demand. A drop in consumer demand typically helps to lower prices of goods and services.

The strong April jobs report may be a double-edged sword as it indicates that the labor market is strong but that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies haven’t done enough to stifle consumer demand in this inflationary economy. Good, who serves on the House Budget Committee, said that maintaining the Federal Reserve’s current track with interest rates will make life tougher for US consumers.

“[Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s] policy of a five percent rise in interest rates over the past year is crushing the American people,” Good told NTD News.

While low interest rates may lead to increased spending and inflation in the economy, inflation is also fed by increases in the supply of money in the economy. The Federal Reserve increased the money supply during the COVID-19 pandemic to help the government fund economic stimulus programs as they encouraged lockdowns.

“Historically, interest rates are increased, as you know, to try to slow a hot economy and to ward off potential inflation,” Good added. “In this case we’ve caused the inflation with the massive spending, we don’t have a strong economy and yet [Powell is] crushing the American people.”

Good argued that raising interest rates alone is not enough to address inflation and that Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ought to more strongly oppose pricey legislation favored by President Joe Biden.

“Janet Yellen [is] equally derelict in her responsibility as Treasury Secretary,” Good said. “They will not call out the administration, their boss, for the massive spending that’s causing so many problems.”

The Debt Limit

Government spending has been an issue that has fed into another flashpoint between Democrats and Republicans—the debate on the debt limit.

The United States has been at its debt limit of about $31.4 trillion since January and is closing in on a potential default on a debt payment.

The Biden administration has called for Congress to pass a so-called “clean bill” to increase the debt limit without setting any new conditions on government spending. Republicans, by contrast, have argued in favor of pairing any debt limit increase with budget reforms to slow the growth of the national debt.

Last week, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that allows the United States to add up to $1.5 trillion in additional debt until March 31, 2024, in exchange for spending cuts that R