The Majority Leader’s Office is now sending a weekly e-mail highlighting economic statistics and news that Members can use as they discuss the state of the economy and how House Democrats are working to spur economic growth, support job creation, and raise wages for the people.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:“President Trump is reportedly planning another tax cut. If so, he should figure out why the first one was a dud. As a card-carrying supply-sider, I was certain tax reform would at last lift the U.S. economy out of its rut of 2% growth. On Dec. 16, 2017, a few days before he signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Mr. Trump told reporters:  ‘The economy now has hit 3%. Nobody thought we’d be anywhere close. I think we can go to 4%, 5% and maybe even 6% ultimately.’ But the increase in gross domestic product hasn’t hit 3%. It was only 2.3% in 2017 and 2.9% in 2018, when the cuts kicked in. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates only 2.3% for 2019. Overall, annual GDP growth under Mr. Trump has averaged only a few tenths of a point better than that of President Obama’s second term." [Wall Street Journal Op-ed by James K. Glassman, 2/26/2020]

STAT OF THE WEEK:  Economic growth remained unchanged in the fourth quarter. “Gross domestic product increased at a 2.1% annualized rate, supported by a smaller import bill, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. That was unrevised from last month’s advance estimate and matched the growth pace logged in the July-September quarter. The economy grew by an unrevised 2.3% in 2019, the slowest annual growth in three years and missing the Trump administration’s 3% growth target for a second straight year.” [CNBC, 2/27/20

ECONOMIC NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

• The stock market suffered significant losses amid Coronavirus. “Stock markets around the world extended a punishing selloff Friday, dragged toward their worst week since the financial crisis by mounting investor unease about the economic fallout from the coronavirus epidemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 1000 points before paring declines. It was recently down 571 points, or about 2.2%. The S&P 500 fell 1.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.8% in a volatile session. Losses have been broad, with all 11 of the S&P 500’s sectors falling into negative territory for the year this week." [The Wall Street Journal, 2/28/20] 
• Coronavirus is dampening consumer confidence. “U.S. consumer confidence slightly declined last week as coronavirus fears escalated and concerns about the outbreak began to drive down stock prices. Morning Consult’s Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) fell 0.6 points and currently stands at 114.8, which is close to where it started at the beginning of the year.”  [Economic Intelligence,  02/28/2020]
• Business is being disrupted as a result of Coronavirus. “Factory shutdowns and quarantines in China have disrupted the global supply chain. Companies like Microsoft have warned that this will affect their sales, and Wall Street analysts have begun to factor those warnings into their expectations for profit growth this year. Hundreds of companies have started taking measures to try to prevent the illness from afflicting their workers, including restricting travel and asking employees to work from home. All of those could curtail productivity. Investors are responding by selling stocks, as well as commodities like oil, as they anticipate the coming slump. The selling itself could help bring the slowdown along as it discourages spending by companies and individual investors alike." [The New York Times, 02/28/20]