Manufacturers: Uncertainty and Inaction Undercutting Ability to Create Jobs

09/07/12 -  National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons issued this statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released today’s jobs report:

“Today’s weak jobs report is the latest of many signs that Washington’s policies are simply not working. Despite President Obama’s stated goal of adding 1 million manufacturing jobs by 2014, manufacturing jobs declined for the first time in a year, and the overall job market is so discouraging that nearly 368,000 people have stopped looking for work in the past month. Any meaningful action on the approaching fiscal abyss has stalled, and manufacturers are feeling the effects. Massive tax increases and indiscriminate spending cuts threaten to undercut any minimal economic gains we have seen. This is unacceptable, and despite the excitement surrounding the recent political conventions, manufacturers are growing more pessimistic by the day about our economic future.

In a recent survey, more than 78 percent of manufacturers cited uncertainty regarding the fiscal abyss as their chief concern, and the number of manufacturers who have a negative outlook on the future of their business doubled in the past three months.

Unless policymakers shelve the rhetoric, roll up their sleeves and take action to end the unfavorable business climate that manufacturers face today, we will see our jobs crisis continue and economic growth grind to a halt. The way to alleviate our economic pain is by enacting pro-growth tax policies, addressing the tough questions on entitlement programs that drive our national debt and putting an end to the regulatory morass that weighs down businesses across the country. Manufacturers stand at the ready to ensure that the United States maintains its mantle of economic greatness - it’s time for leadership in Washington that will allow manufacturers to take the reins.”