Washington, D.C. - Congressman Charles Rangel released the following statement today, January 5, 2012, on the Department of Labor’s recent jobs report showing Unemployment dropped to 8.5 percent, U.S. private employers added 200,000 jobs in December and jobless claims fell by 15,000 in the last week of the month:

“The latest jobs report from the Department of Labor shows that our economy is continuing to improve under the leadership of President Obama who has inherited one of the worst recessions in our nation's history.  With unemployment dropping to 8.5 percent and the creation of 200,000 jobs in December employers are proving their confidence in the Democratic efforts to get Americans back to work.  The impressive decline of 15,000 unemployment claims in the last week of December strongly dismisses the Republican argument that extending unemployment insurance will hinder job seekers' efforts to find a job.

With this encouraging news at the beginning of the New Year, I hope Republicans will finally join Democrats to pass the American Jobs Act. There is still much work that needs to be done: Black unemployment rose again from 15.5 percent to 15.8 and black teen unemployment still remains over 40%.  Our country cannot afford another year of extreme partisanship and legislative gridlock.  By blocking the Jobs Act merely to defeat Obama and without introducing a jobs plan of their own, Republicans are selfishly holding 2.5 million jobs hostage from the American people, demonstrating that they're placing political ideologies before the best interest of the nation.

The increase in job numbers should clearly show that Republican obstructionism is not working: With or without them my Democratic Colleagues and I will continue supporting President Obama's initiatives to get more Americans working again. In the New Year, we will remain committed to our top priority of creating jobs, revamping our economy, extending unemployment benefits, and ensuring Medicare payments to doctors. Should Republicans choose once again not to join us, they should at the very least not stand against us.”