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WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today on the May jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that the U.S. unemployment rate rose from 5 percent to 5.5 percent last month.
“There are now 1.6 million more Americans who want a job but cannot find one than there were just one year ago. Already this year, more than 300,000 American workers have lost their jobs. And despite a weak dollar that ought to help U.S. exports, our manufacturing base continues to erode. Today’s news of the May surge in unemployment makes it clear that we must take swift and decisive action to keep a bad situation from getting far worse.
“For those workers who have lost their jobs, we must provide extended unemployment benefits. Particularly in light of high energy costs, workers desperately need this assistance to make basic ends meet while they look for another job.
“Next, we must find ways to put people back to work, particularly workers from those sectors where job losses have been the most severe. Just this week, the House passed legislation that would create good-paying jobs in the construction industry – the industry hardest hit during this downturn – by investing in projects to modernize America’s public school buildings. This is exactly the kind of policy that can help turn our economy around while also meeting an important national need.
“In the longer term, we need to create a new, stronger, more secure economy by dismantling the Bush economic legacy. Over the last eight years, Bush policies have made our economy far less stable and far more unequal.
“We have a long way to go to undo the serious damage this administration has caused, and we should get to work now. The President should change course during his last months in office by working with Democrats in Congress to provide benefits to unemployed workers and create new jobs.”
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