Congresswoman Lee Calls for More Action to Ensure an Equal Economic Recovery
Oakland, CA – Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement upon the release of the Department of Labor’s January Jobs Report. The report announced an additional 257,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. Businesses added 267,000 jobs making January 2015 the 59th consecutive month of private sector job growth.
“Today’s Jobs Report shows that our economy continues to recover and businesses continue to create jobs, especially in the construction, health care and manufacturing sectors.
However, this recovery remains unequal and too many Americans are still struggling to find a job, especially in communities of color.
The unemployment rate for African Americans and Latinos continues to be higher than the national average at 10.7 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.
Congress must do more to ensure that our economic recovery leaves no one behind.
I call on my Congressional colleagues to join me in working to extend unemployment insurance to the millions of long-term unemployment and to raise the minimum wage, while working for a living wage, because no one working full time should live in poverty.
Finally, I call on my Republican colleagues to join me and my Democratic colleagues in supporting key provisions of the President’s Budget Proposal to rebuild our nation’s crippling infrastructure, invest in workforce training and create good-paying jobs for all.”
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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 Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.