Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ February jobs report showing that the unemployment rate ticked down to 8.9 percent and 192,000 total nonfarm jobs were added:

“We’ve now recorded 12 straight months of private sector job gains, adding more than 1.5 million private sector jobs in the past year, including 222,000 in February.

“It’s encouraging to see strong private sector growth in a number of areas, including manufacturing and professional and business services.

“However, greater job growth is needed.  There are still 13.7 million Americans who are unemployed and 43.9 percent of these workers have been jobless for six months or more.

 “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and with private sector leaders to spur additional job creation, to strengthen the manufacturing sector and to boost our recovery.

“As work continues on the budget, we must cut wasteful spending while not harming education and other investments that are essential to ensuring our country’s future competitiveness.”

 

###