Washington, DC -- The U.S. unemployment rate crept back up to a disappointing 9.1% percent for May, according to data just released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adding to a recent spate of bad economic news, only 54,000 payroll jobs were added. This was the smallest monthly increase since September 2010.

Recent economic news has been anything but encouraging. The 1.8% economic growth estimate for the first quarter of this year has shown a drop in factory orders, a six-month low in consumer confidence and falling housing prices. "Sadly, expectations for future business growth and employment continue to deteriorate," said U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the Joint Economic Committee. "Americans who were hoping for better days ahead are instead bracing for declining income and higher prices."

"Winston Churchill once said 'the United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative.' Well, President Obama has tried just about every form of Keynesian economics – fiscal stimulus, easy money, large budget deficits – but has failed to revive economic growth," added JEC Vice Chairman Brady. "It's time for the President to do the right thing and join House Republicans in implementing sound economic policies.”

Curbing excessive federal spending, reforming unsustainable entitlements, implementing pro-growth tax and regulatory policies, stabilizing the value of the U.S. dollar and reducing federal debt are the right steps to putting our financial house in order and restore fiscal sanity to our flailing economy. "Instead of more stimulus, more debt, more regulations and yes, more taxes, the President needs to take a cue from the Reagan recovery and get Washington out of the way of our job creators," concluded Brady.

During the first 7 quarters of the Reagan Recovery, real economic growth averaged 7.1% as opposed to President Obama's 2.8%. Over 6.5 million jobs were added in the first 22 months of the Reagan recovery, over 12 times the number of new jobs since the most recent recession officially ended. The unemployment rate also dropped by 3.5 percentage points during the first 22 months of the Reagan recovery.