EVANS STATMENT ON RISING EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS:
Unemployment rate falls to lowest level since September 2001-- 5.4%

WASHINGTON, DC – Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans commented on August’s employment report, which showed a reduction in the unemployment rate to the lowest level since September of 2001:

“Our resilient recovery lowered the unemployment rate to its lowest level since September 2001 because the President trusted average Americans with the keys to recovery, their hard-earned dollars. The August numbers show there’s an elephant in the room: the tax cuts have produced 144,000 new jobs and the resilient recovery continues.”

“We’ve been through a lot but America never produced more goods and services, never sent more Americans to work, and never counted a larger number of American homeowners than we can this morning.”

“Higher taxes would destroy jobs—a Euro-style plan for higher taxes on small businesses would bring double-digit European unemployment.”

Note: Non-farm payroll employment rose by 144,000 in August, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Over the last year, 1.7 million new jobs have been created, including 107,000 in the manufacturing sector since January.