WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joint Economic Committee Chairman Dan Coats (R-Ind.) issued a statement regarding today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that the U.S. economy added 142,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, including 118,000 private sector jobs, and the unemployment rate remains unchanged at 5.1%. The labor force participation rate fell to a new recovery low and near 40-year low of 62.4%. The long-term unemployment rate as a percent of the jobless fell to 26.6%.

 

“Long-term unemployment is still high,” said Coats. “For half of jobless workers, it takes 80 days or more to find a job or stop trying. The average is worse—184 days. Labor force participation fell to a near 40-year low. While job openings are increasing, hiring is slow and layoffs are on the rise. This all points to an uncertain and apprehensive trajectory for the U.S. economy.

“Congress can take action to strengthen the state of our economy. During this new fiscal year, Congress can enact true and lasting reform to fix our broken tax code, preserve entitlements and address our exploding debt and deficit. I encourage the Senate and president to support these reforms in any future spending bills.”

Despite expectations of an upward revision for August payroll growth, nonfarm payroll growth was actually revised down for that month from 173,000 to 136,000. July was also revised down from 245,000 to 223,000, making for a combined downward revision of 59,000 for the previous two months.