WASHINGTON—March unemployment data showed that millions of Americans, who should be employed, remained out of the labor force and businesses struggled to fill 11.3 million job openings.

Rachel Greszler, Heritage Foundation research fellow in economics, budget, and entitlements, released the following statement Friday on the latest labor numbers:  

“American businesses continue to struggle because the labor force remains 174,000 below where it was prior to the pandemic, despite the fact that the working-age population has increased by 3.8 million. The combination of reckless federal spending, the Federal Reserve’s rampant printing of money, and expanded federal welfare-without-work programs have created an unprecedented labor shortage. Fewer workers have led to employers raising compensation and benefits beyond what would normally happen with true economic growth.

“The result has been higher prices, contributing to a 40-year-high 7.9% inflation rate. The tone-deaf budget President Biden released this week pretends that inflation can be stopped with budget gimmicks and a socialist wish list of more government spending and taxation. But ‘lowering’ prices by making other people pay for things won’t reduce inflation.

“Lawmakers need to correct the course by rejecting any more reckless and wasteful federal spending and adopt commonsense policies like those found in Heritage’s Budget Blueprint.”