30,000 Future Jobs at Risk - Commonwealth Foundation

Middle class job opportunities are at risk.

We all know that strong middle class employment is at the heart of a healthy economy, but Gov. Wolf’s massive tax increases would dramatically suppress future job creation.

The Commonwealth Foundation analyzed the overall impact of Gov. Wolf’s proposals—and the results aren’t pretty.

Approximately 30,000 jobs would not be created in 2015-16 under Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal, according to an economic modeling program from the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University. To put that figure in perspective, consider that the Bureau for Labor Statistics estimates Pennsylvania added roughly 50,000 jobs over the last 12 months.

Total Employment

Fiscal Year	Without Wolf Taxes	With Wolf Taxes	Jobs Not Created
2015-16	5,764,652	5,735,243	29,408
2016-17	5,815,360	5,777,047	38,313
2017-18	5,866,631	5,829,821	36,810
2018-19	5,918,471	5,882,391	36,080
2019-20	5,970,885	5,935,404	35,481

If one excludes government employment—which would slightly tick up as a result of Gov. Wolf’s government spending increases—more than 39,000 private sector jobs would not be created in 2015-16.

Private Sector Employment

Fiscal Year	Without Wolf Taxes	With Wolf Taxes	Jobs Not Created
2015-16	5,063,968	5,024,759	39,209
2016-17	5,116,985	5,076,586	40,399
2017-18	5,170,557	5,132,299	38,258
2018-19	5,224,691	5,186,636	38,055
2019-20	5,279,391	5,241,433	37,957

This is bad news for thousands of Pennsylvanians looking for work. Families can’t afford to be squeezed between higher taxes and fewer job opportunities.