Nearly a year into the recovery, we are still mired in the most serious employment crisis since the Great Depression.

Today's disappointing employment report shows the economy shed 131,000 workers, mostly because of the winding down of the U.S. census.  Of more concern is that private sector employment increased by only 71,000 new jobs.  The unemployment rate was unchanged, but only because another 181,000 workers left the labor force.

With the recovery showing signs of losing steam, our government – the Obama administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve – must act with the same urgency and political will that was used to save the global banking system to put our workers back to work and assure that the jobs of the future are good jobs. 

President Obama has been calling for further fiscal support for the recovery.  And Congress did finally pass a much needed extension of unemployment benefits through November.  Just this week, the Senate acted to save hundreds of thousands of essential public servants – teachers, firefighters and public safety officers – from joining the ranks of the jobless.

But the economic recovery is still far too weak to power the job growth we need to offset the almost 8 million jobs lost since the recession began.  Meanwhile, 14.6 million workers are formally unemployed, and nearly half of them have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks. Yet every effort to dig us out of our 10.5 million jobs hole has faced enormous opposition from Republicans who choose to vote against good jobs and working people for cheap political points. This is inexcusable.

There will not be a sustainable recovery until we see strong employment growth.  And we will not soon see strong employment growth without sustained government support to put workers back to work. Come November, voters will be looking for those with the commitment to create good jobs at the level our economy demands.   

Contact: Josh Goldstein (202) 637-5018