July 08, 2016

Congresswoman Lee Responds to June Jobs Report

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released this statement on the Department of Labor’s June Jobs Report, which showed the economy created 287,000 jobs in June. Last month marked the 76th consecutive month of private sector job growth:

“Today’s Jobs Report shows continued and positive economic growth. Over the past year, the national unemployment rate has decreased 0.4 percent under the leadership of President Obama. As the economic recovery continues, we must build on this progress by making robust investments in education, infrastructure and job training.

Despite the economic uncertainty and instability created by Congressional Republican’s inaction, we continue to see strong jobs numbers.

However, this recovery is still slow in many of the most affected communities. While the African American unemployment rate has fallen nearly a full percentage point since June 2015, it increased by 0.4 percent in June alone.

Likewise, the Latino unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percent in June, despite falling 0.8 percent over the last year. Clearly, much work remains to address these economic inequities, especially in communities of color.

From increasing the minimum wage to creating good-paying jobs, House Democrats have an agenda to help Americans families. Sadly, Congressional Republicans have chosen to block any meaningful legislation that would help American families.

The American people can no longer afford Republican inaction; it’s past time for Congress to get back to work.”

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Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the Democrat Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income Inequality and Opportunity.