Hensarling Statement on Latest Unemployment Report
WASHINGTON – House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) issued the following statement today regarding the latest unemployment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Today’s report marks 40 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent – a devastating milestone for millions of Americans suffering through the Obama economy. When we count those who’ve had to stop searching for work or can’t find full-time jobs, the real unemployment rate is actually 14.8 percent, totaling more than 23 million Americans.
“The president’s policies are failing and making the economy worse. Americans are losing hope in this administration’s ability to rekindle the entrepreneurial confidence that small businesses need to expand and employ more people—and for good reason. The labor participation rate is near a 32-year low; new business start-ups are at 17-year low; the number of Americans having to rely on food stamps is at an all-time high; half the nation is now classified as low-income or in poverty. This is not the kind of ‘change’ Americans had hoped for.
“Our nation is in desperate need of a new direction. Sadly, as long as the president continues to threaten the single largest tax increase in American history, bring about trillion-dollar deficits which small business people know they’ll eventually have to pay off, and increase the size and complexity of regulations on American businesses, we will continue to have the slowest and weakest recovery since the Great Depression.
“While the president continues to pursue a failed agenda based on his failed vision of ever-increasing government, House Republicans have been offering the nation a new path forward: our Plan for America’s Job Creators. The longer Washington Democrats keep ignoring our plan and rejecting new ideas, the longer the American people will be denied the jobs, growth, hope, and opportunities they deserve.”
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For additional information, contact:
House Republican Conference Press Office (conferencepress@mail.house.gov)
