RATE Coalition Statement on August Jobs Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The RATE Coalition, whose members and affiliates employ more than 53 million American workers in all 50 states, released the following statement regarding the August jobs report:

“The disappointing figures found in today’s jobs report reinforce the reality that it isn’t merely the wrong time to raise taxes on job-creating businesses and the workers they employ – it’s the worst time. The latest jobs number indicates that America’s economic recovery is faltering on the heels of a historic crisis.

“The August jobs report and slew of recent studies concerning the consequences of a corporate rate hike should provide much pause to policymakers amid the push to return our rate to the highest in the industrialized world. We should work to grow the American economy rather than widen the already present gulf between America and our global competitors.”

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BACKGROUND:

• Raising the corporate rate puts us further behind global competitors; when combined with state and local taxes, American corporations already pay a rate over 25%, higher than China
• The average corporate tax rate among OECD countries is 23.4% – and 25% in China, who also offers lower rates to certain industries that the country wants to grow with a goal towards growing their dominance in the global supply chain
• The current average corporate rate among American states is 4.8%. (25.8% when combined with the federal rate)