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Post-Recession Job Growth Reaffirms Worst Fears of Kasich
Economy
Stagnant job growth keeps Ohio 41st in job
creation from 2008-2014
Special to The Truth
National Public Radio’s economic series, Planet Money, today
released a
comparison
of post-recession job gains and losses on a state-by-state
basis from Jan. 2008 to May 2014. The comparison shows Ohio
ranks 41st in post-recession job growth, with
jobs shrinking by 2.4 percent in the Buckeye State.
The data is contrary to the Kasich Administration’s belief
that Ohio’s economy has been a national leader in job growth
under Kasich’s watch. The governor and his allies spent much
of 2013 and the first part of 2014 saying Ohio was ninth in
job creation nationally, a statistic widely panned as faulty
for failing to disaggregate job growth based on Ohio’s labor
force. Democrats often point to Arizona State University’s
WP Carey School of Business for state-by-state job growth
rankings. According to the university, Ohio finished 2013 as
44th nationally in job creation, and currently
ranks 38th.
“This shows what many Ohioans and Democrats have been saying
about Governor Kasich’s economy all along,” said House
Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus). “His
recovery for the rich is not creating jobs for the rest of
Ohio. Tax cuts targeted at the wealthy aren’t creating the
job growth Governor Kasich promised.”
The collapse of Wall Street in the fall of 2008 triggered a
global economic recession that impacted states all across
the country, including Ohio. Ohio began to recover from the
Great Recession in March 2010 when the unemployment rate
first started to drop. Over the next 12 months, and before
any of Gov. Kasich’s policies were in place, the
unemployment rate would continue to drop to 8.8 percent,
from over 10 percent, by March of 2011.
Here is what other Democratic lawmakers are saying about the
economic comparison:
“While Gov. Kasich and his allies promised fracking jobs
would be a windfall for our state, it’s clear that their
stance against requiring companies to hire Ohioans for
theses jobs has meant that out-of-state workers continue to
get work instead of Ohioans. Meanwhile, North Dakota and
Texas are leading the nation in post-recession job growth
thanks to oil and gas drilling. This is more proof that Gov.
Kasich and Ohio’s GOP are lying about our state’s economy.”
--Rep. Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown)
“Gov. Kasich’s state savings account has grown by $800
million, but middle class Ohioans have felt the pinch of
more taxes and economic policies that favor the wealthy.
Ohioans realize that wealth does not ‘trickle down’ and that
the Ohio’s GOP view of what a successful economy means is
wildly different from that of everyday Ohioans. Rich people
continue to make out like bandits. Poor and Middle class
people again got next to nothing.” --Rep. Mike Foley
(D-Cleveland)
“Gov. Kasich promised an economic turnaround when he took
office, yet he is failing to live up to that promise. Ohio
is the seventh most impoverished state in the nation and
welfare numbers are still trending upward. The top-down
approach our governor has taken is straining the middle
class and holding Ohio back. Ohioans deserve a leader who
works on behalf of all citizens – not just a select few.”—
Rep. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron)
“The national economy climbed back steadily from recession,
yet it is a very different picture in Ohio. Our state
consistently remains at the bottom in job growth, and we
have fewer jobs than we did before the recession. Instead of
catering to special interests and pandering to the
wealthiest among us, Governor Kasich should push policies
that help average Ohioans get back on their feet.”—House
Democratic Whip Michael Ashford (D-Toledo)
“We know that Ohioans have the skills and determination to
make this state an economic powerhouse. But, the top-down,
partisan priorities of Governor Kasich and the
administration are holding us back from our true potential.
Targeting tax breaks to the wealthiest Ohioans while cutting
schools and communities is a strategy that is not working,
and it continues to move our state in the wrong direction.”
–Assistant Democratic Whip Dan Ramos (D-Lorain)
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