That is because Republicans see the economy differently. A good economy for them is one where the already wealthy can squeeze out additional gain, and employment is nominally good but wages are stagnant or shrinking. The entire point of supply side economics as implemented by the GOP is to capture wealth at the top and to let the economy crash, so that they can capture more wealth again on the next recovery cycle. Labor is just a cost to them. No different than buying a new printer for the office. They care about minimizing labor cost without regard for fair compensation for the output produced by that labor.
The economic crash has always been forecasted and capitalized on each of the last 3 or 4 times the GOP have done this to a recently recovered economy. At this point, it has to be intentional. They know that labor are also consumers, as well as human beings that need to support families. They just don't give a shit. Capture the fruits of their production, rev the engines up to 11, put on your golden parachute, and let the sucker workers go down with the plane.