News Corner

• Since President Trump took office, the unemployment rate has decreased from 4.8 percent to 4.1 percent, a 17-year low.
• The U.S. economy has also added 1.8 million jobs since President Trump took office.
• The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index averaged 50 in 2017, the highest yearly average since 2001.
• The December, 2017 jobs report has been praised and includes a number of strong indicators of economic health.
• Over 100 companies and counting have pledged to offer bonuses, pay raises, and benefits increases after Republicans passed historic tax reform, a trend that is having a positive impact for many Americans and charities across the country.
• The Christmas shopping season was the best in a decade, far exceeding expectations.
• The Dow has topped 25,000, up 36 percent since President Trump was elected, "an incredible move in such a short period."

The U.S. Senate confirmed Alex Azar II to serve as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 24. Secretary Azar attended Parkside High School in Salisbury, Maryland from 1981 to 1985. His father, also named Alex Azar, is a retired doctor of ophthalmology and teacher at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He practiced ophthalmology in Salisbury, Maryland for more than 30 years. His grandfather emigrated from Lebanon in the early 20th century.

  

Thanks to the tax reform bill which passed Congress late last year and was signed into law by President Trump, most Marylanders will start benefiting from tax relief this year.  According to a Tax Foundation estimate, the average gain in after-tax income for a middle-income family is higher in Maryland, $3,245, than it is for the country as a whole, $2,598[1].  Moreover, the foundation estimates that these reforms should result in more than 17,000 additional jobs in Maryland.