WASHINGTON, DC– Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) issued the following statement regarding today's U.S. Department of Labor’s unemployment report showing the economy gained just 96,000 jobs during the month of August:

“To get an accurate assessment of the state of our Nation's economy one only needs to look at the beginning and end of this week's Democratic National Convention.

“As Democrats gathered to convene their National Convention our gross national debt topped the $16 trillion mark for the first time in our Nation's history.  The American people have witnessed four straight years of deficits exceeding $1 trillion and an increase in the national debt of more than $5 trillion — the largest amount accrued during a single term of any president.

“And just nine hours after President Obama accepted his party's nomination and asked the Nation for four more years, Americans learn that only 96,000 jobs were created in the month of August, continuing a streak of 43 consecutive months of unemployment eight percent or greater.  The Labor Department also says 41,000 fewer jobs were created in July and June than first estimated.  And nearly 370,000 more Americans simply gave up even looking for work in August, placing labor force participation at its lowest rate in three decades.

“House Republicans and some congressional Democrats have made every effort to reverse this economic slide and put more Americans back to work.  

“We have passed more than 30 bills that would help grow our economy and spark job creation, but nearly all of these bipartisan measures await action in the Democratic-controlled Senate. We have voted to extend the current tax rates for all Americans and pledged to move forward with tax code reform in 2013.  We have passed a federal budget that tackles the Nation's most pressing fiscal problems and brings our federal budget back into balance.  And we have supported an all-of-the-above American-made energy policy to expand affordable energy and create jobs.

“Only through passage of these bipartisan, pro-jobs measures will we achieve the economic growth that our Nation so desperately needs.”