Chairman Miller Statement on March Unemployment Report

Friday, April 4, 2008

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 March jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which showed that the U.S. shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of losses.

“Today’s jobs report shows that additional steps are urgently needed to help get the U.S. economy back on track. First, we have to cure what ails us. The weakest spots in this jobs report are the construction and manufacturing industries, which are hemorrhaging jobs. We can help create construction jobs again by addressing some of the urgent problems with our nation’s infrastructure. For example, thousands of public school facilities across the country are in serious need of modernization. Putting people to work in upgrading our schools, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure would not only address a key part of the economic challenge we’re facing, it would allow us to satisfy a major national priority at the same time. And we can help create manufacturing jobs while also attacking global warming by putting people to work building an independent, clean energy economy for the 21st century.

“We also have to remember that today’s numbers are not an abstraction. They mean that hundreds of thousands of American workers and their families are wondering how they will keep a roof over their heads and meet even the most basic of needs. Those workers desperately need extended unemployment benefits while they search for a new job. Congress has already approved an important economic stimulus package; the time for additional measures has clearly arrived, and we intend to act.

“Many economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, believe that things will get worse before they get better. We should prepare for the worst while we hope for the best. We should take decisive action now to blunt, as much as possible, the financial pain that too many Americans will likely face in the weeks and months to come.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
2181 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-226-0853