Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a severe economic crisis to the United States economy and across the world - with supply chain disruptions, high unemployment, and other economic challenges that took a toll on Americans.
When President Biden took office, he worked with Congressional Democrats to jumpstart our economic recovery. With the enactment of the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act, Congressman Costa and Congressional Democrats fueled one of the strongest economic recoveries in our history and then any other country.
Over the years, Costa has secured federal funding for local infrastructure, energy, and transportation projects that have resulted in thousands of jobs. Along with federal investments in local institutions for agriculture, automotive, and healthcare job pathway programs. He remains committed to continuing to bolster job creation, strengthening our economy, and developing strong economic opportunities.
Job Growth in CA-21
The American Rescue Plan led to a historic recovery across the country, with 15 million jobs created and a record-low unemployment rate of 3.7% in more than 50 years.
At the height of the pandemic, the unemployment rate was at 6.4%. Now, its below 4% with a historic 3-year job growth of over 15 million total jobs created since 2021, including 1.98 million jobs in California and 34,300 jobs in California’s 21st Congressional District.
California’s unemployment has fallen from 8.7% to 5.2% - more Californians are working than at any point on record. With this strong economic recovery, we have the lowest unemployment rate amongst Blacks, Latinos and Women.
To build on these efforts, Costa secured millions in federal funding to bolster job training and create good-paying jobs across the San Joaquin Valley:
$65.1 million for the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition to accelerate the integration of technology and skills in the region’s agriculture industry—creating over 10,000 jobs and attracting $250 million in private investments in the Central Valley.
$23 million for the Good Jobs 4 The Central Valley project to unite dozens of organizations in California’s Central Valley - helping create over 10,000 new jobs by 2026 in the financial services, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and construction industries.
$3.3 Billion to advance the Central Valley line as part of the California’s High-Speed Rail project, which has already created 13,000 jobs – many of which are in California’s 21st Congressional District.
Learn more about jobs investments HERE.
Bringing Manufacturing back to America
The United States is having a manufacturing boom! Nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs have been created, and private sector companies have invested over $480 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments since President Biden took office.
In California, we have created over 79,000 jobs, the second largest in the nation. With the enactment of the CHIPS and Science Act, Democrats are investing in the first new memory chip manufacturing plant in America in 20 years. This will reduce American dependency on countries like China and renew our leadership in manufacturing.
Cutting Child Poverty
Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, the national child poverty rate was cut in half. Costa championed the CTC which helped over 215,000 children and delivered over $299 million to parents in our district.
Now, Costa is fighting to build on these efforts by reauthorizing and expanding the CTC – which would help over 99,000 children in our district.
Closing the Gender Pay Gap
America cannot have the strongest economy in the world while leaving women — half our workforce — behind. Women only earn 77 cents for every dollar made by men in America. It's not fair that women do not receive equal pay for equal work!
That gap is even wider for Native American, Black, Latina, Asian, and Pacific-Islander women. As a cosponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Protection Act, Costa is fighting to close the gender pay gap and ensure women receive the equal treatment promised to them under the United States Constitution.
Cutting the Deficit
As a Blue Dog Democrat, Costa has made significant strides in restoring the fiscal stability and economic security of the United States by implementing common-sense policies such as pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budgeting. Restoring fiscal discipline to our government is the first step to securing the future of this nation for America’s children and grandchildren.
Most recently, Costa voted to enact the Inflation Reduction Actwhich raises $300 billion over a decade to cut the deficit. By requiring large corporations to pay a 15 percent minimum tax on their profits and by enacting a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks and redemptions.