The Working-Age Population in the U.S. Has Increased by 8 Million in Seven Years... But There Are Half a Million Fewer People Working

The working-age population in the United States has increased exponentially since 2007, but the number of Americans with jobs has declined, according to Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

Sessions’ claim is based on information compiled by Haver Analytics, a private firm that specializes in economic and financial data, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The working-age population of persons aged 16 to 65 has jumped by more than 8 million since before President Barack Obama assumed office in 2009. At the same time, the total population in the U.S. has increased by approximately 15 million.

But there are now 531,000 fewer people employed today in the United States than there were in 2007, the year before the start of the global financial meltdown.

“Our urgent national mission has to be transitioning struggling and out-of-work Americans into good jobs with rising wages,” Republican Senate Budget Committee spokesman Andrew Logan told TheBlaze in an email.

“There are a couple commonsense ways to do that — all without adding to the debt. Among them: more American energy, the elimination of every unnecessary regulation, a tax system that allows us to be globally competitive, and trade and immigration policies that defend U.S. workers’ legitimate interests,” the email added. "What we can’t do is to keep trying the same policies that haven’t worked and can never work."

Image source: The office of Sen. Sessions

Sessions himself added that he and his Republican colleagues must “demonstrate to the American public that the GOP is the only party aligned with the core interests, concerns, and beliefs of everyday hardworking citizens.”

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