Congresswoman Lee Releases Statement on the April Jobs Report
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Lee released the following statement on the Department of Labor’s April Jobs Report, which announced that the economy created 160,000 jobs last month:
“Today’s Jobs Report marks the 74th month of consecutive private sector job growth and shows that our economy continues to rebuild following the Great Recession. With 160,000 jobs created last month alone, our nation is making progress toward ending unemployment.
However, clear and troubling disparities persist in communities of color. In the African American community, the unemployment rate (8.8%) is more than double the unemployment rate among whites (4.3%). Similarly, the unemployment rate among Latinos (6.1%) is nearly two points higher than the white unemployment rate. Clearly, much work remains to ensure that our nation’s economic progress reaches all families.
Sadly, Congressional Republicans continue to block key legislation to create good-paying jobs, raise wages and fight poverty. Enough is enough – it’s past time for them to do their jobs! The American people deserve a real commitment from Congress to address persistent unemployment, growing income inequality, systemic poverty and stagnant wages. That starts with passing a budget that invests in families and communities by creating good-paying jobs, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and expanding affordable education from pre-K to college.”
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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.