February 3, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire (PA-04) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) announcement that the economy added 243,000 jobs in January, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent.

Congressman Altmire said:

"Today's jobs report is good news and reason for cautious optimism that our economic recovery will continue. Although we are still not where we would like to be, the recent trends vindicate many of the difficult decisions that Congress and the president had to make in the wake of the financial downturn. Passage of the Wall Street reform law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the auto industry loan program helped stabilize the economy and put our country on a path to recovery. We still have work to do, and I will continue to fight to protect consumers, reduce the deficit, help small businesses create jobs, and get this country back on solid economic ground."