Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement in reaction to the report today stating that over 100,000 private sector jobs were created in December.  The adjustment of October and November numbers resulted in a three-month increase of 384,000.   

“With the disclosure of the December numbers, it is official.  In 2010, the Democratic Congress and President Obama were responsible for more job creation than occurred during the eight years of President Bush’s Administration – six of which included a Republican Congress.  While there is still a long road ahead towards a full recovery, this was a very positive way to close out 2010.

“On a positive note, this makes 12 consecutive months of jobs growth resulting in 1.3 million private sector jobs added to the economy during 2010, the strongest private sector growth since 2006.  However, I am discouraged by the fact that as Congress convened to start 2011 a focus was not placed on job creation, as urged by the American people.  Instead, the Republicans have decided that symbolic gestures and campaign promises were the most important priority.  We should have started this session by working on a jobs bill, but since the GOP opposed every jobs bill introduced last year, it should not be all that surprising. 

“What we have done is begun session by trimming pennies off the deficit by cutting Congressional budgets, and seeking a repeal of health care for over 30 million Americans.  The repeal of Patients’ Rights would also kill many of the over 200,000 jobs recently created in the health care sector.  In fact, a report from Harvard University states the Affordable Care Act would create up to four million jobs over the next 10 years.   The repeal is going to die in the Senate, so the result is nothing more than a waste of the people’s time.

“I encourage my Republican colleagues to focus less on political posturing and more on matters of importance.  Together we can make a difference for our hard-working families trying to recover from the recession.  The American people demanded we work together and halt business as usual, and putting people back to work is the best way we can accomplish that goal.”

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