Frank Statement on Job Numbers

Washington, DC - Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services released the following statement on the job numbers released today:

“Today’s employment numbers are very troubling.  The numbers confirm that we face a problem that is serious and worsening.  This news increases the urgency that we must move quickly to address the single biggest cause.  That is, we must act more rapidly to adopt policies that will diminish millions of foreclosures that will be occurring, and also provide help to state and local governments to deal with the serious negative consequences of those foreclosures.  If we do not act promptly and effectively, as the very disappointing employment numbers indicate, we will face a slowdown that is far worse than appeared six weeks ago.

“Any effort to take comfort in the slight drop in the unemployment rate would be completely misguided.  This drop in the nominal unemployment rate reflects the fact that large numbers of people have left the workforce or have given up looking for work because the jobs are simply not there.  In fact, the labor force participation rate has dropped from 66.2% in February 2007 to 65.9% in February 2008.”