Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' September jobs report showing that the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent and 103,000 total nonfarm jobs were added:
“The September employment report was a bit better than anticipated and the jobs numbers for August and July each were revised upward. But we have a long way to go. The economy is not yet adding enough jobs to bring down the unemployment rate. In the past three months, we’ve averaged a gain of 117,000 private-sector jobs a month – not nearly enough to regain the jobs lost during the Great Recession. For the 14 million Americans who remain out of work and who are still struggling in the wake of the Great Recession, we must do more to ease their burden.
“Congress needs to act quickly to bolster the economy. I’m focused on getting something done to help small businesses, so they can hire more workers and help lower the unemployment rate. With households and businesses struggling to weather stiff economic headwinds, policymakers have presented several proposals ranging from across the board payroll tax cuts for employees or employers, to targeted cuts to employers that increase payroll. I recently introduced the Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act (S. 1330) which will increase employment through tax incentives and give American small businesses the incentives they need to increase hiring.
“We must also continue to push toward cracking down on China’s unfair trade practices, and I am glad the Senate took the first step yesterday by allowing debate on this critical legislation to continue. For far too long, the U.S. has allowed China to manipulate its currency without consequence and the practice has taken a dramatic toll on Pennsylvania’s companies and workers. We have had enough tough talk - now we need tough action, and I will continue to fight for this legislation so that we can begin to level the playing field for U.S. workers.”
# # #
