WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Ranking Democrat on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), issued the following statement Friday on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November jobs report. The Bureau announced that the economy added 211,000 nonfarm jobs in November. The unemployment rate remained at 5 percent.

“Today’s job report reinforces the stability of our economy, after seven long years digging ourselves out of the Bush-era recession,” Maloney said. “The fact that the Federal Reserve is even considering raising short-term interest rates for the first time in almost a decade is indication itself that President Obama’s economic policies have been a success.”

The nation’s unemployment rate is down from 10 percent in October 2009 to five percent today, and almost 8 million jobs have been added to the economy in that period.

“There is simply no denying that the economy is on solid ground,” Maloney continued. “But plenty of work remains to build an economy robust with opportunity and growth. We made some important progress this week passing a long-term highway bill and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank.  We can build on that progress by advocating for higher wages and bringing down the cost of education so that the next generation isn’t overwhelmed by burdensome debt.

“Given the more fragile state of the global economy, the Obama Administration has reason to take pride in leading the way out of the Great recession toward a more productive America.”

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