Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
03/07/2008
Pelosi Statement on Troubling February Jobs Report, Largest Monthly Decline in Five Years
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following
statement today on the troubling jobs report from the Labor Department, which
showed that the U.S. economy lost 63,000 jobs in February, the largest monthly
job decline in nearly five years:
"Today's troubling jobs numbers are the latest evidence
we must continue to chart a New Direction for our economy that breaks with the
failed Bush Administration policies of the last seven years. The Bush economy has undeniably failed to
create jobs and renew the American Dream for the middle class and those who
aspire to it -- instead leaving our economy reeling and families struggling to
make ends meet, with rising prices for gas, home heating oil, groceries, and
health care.
"Last month, the New Direction Congress aggressively
responded to the weakening economy with a bipartisan stimulus package that will
provide timely, temporary and targeted tax cuts, as soon as recovery rebates go
out to 130 million Americans in May.
Next week, we will act on a budget plan that is a fiscally responsible
blueprint for economic recovery to make smart investments for our future in
renewable energy, health care, education, American innovation and
infrastructure. We will also continue to
address the subprime mortgage crisis and help families avoid foreclosure. These actions build on last year's work to
increase the minimum wage, enact the largest expansion of college aid since the
GI Bill in 1944, and enact a sweeping energy bill that will help Americans save
money at the gas pump and on their heating bills.
"Democrats in Congress are committed to working in a
bipartisan way to get our economy moving again and creating jobs for
* * *
Just this week, news of new highs and lows defined the
worsening economic picture:
• Biggest Job
Drop Off in Five Years: Employers
slashed jobs by 63,000 in February – the biggest job drop off in five years and
the second consecutive month of job losses.
The job losses were widespread --in construction, manufacturing,
retailing, financial services and a variety of professional and business
services. President Bush is tied for the
worst jobs record of any President since the Great Depression, and
• Energy Prices
at Record Levels: This week, oil prices
hit an all-time record high of nearly $106 per barrel, while families are
paying $3.19 a gallon for gas – 68 cents a gallon more than last year and only
pennies away from the record of last spring.
Gas prices are double that of 2001 and home heating oil costs are three
times that of 2001.
• Mortgage
Crisis Worsens: The percentage of mortgages that were in foreclosure hit a
record high in the fourth quarter, while mortgage delinquencies rose to a
23-year high. Homeowners' debt on their houses exceeds their equity in their
homes for the first time since 1945.