Rep. Lee Statement on May Jobs Report
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement on the Department of Labor’s May Jobs report, which showed the economy created in 38,000 jobs and unemployment rate fell to 4.7 percent. May marked the 75th consecutive month of private sector job growth.
“Today’s jobs report shows that while the Great Recession is behind us, too many families are still struggling to get ahead. Yet Congressional Republicans refuse to take up critical legislation to help working families.
“Sadly, this economic recovery has been particularly slow for communities of color. In the African American community, the unemployment rate (8.2%) is double the unemployment rate among whites (4.1%). Similarly, the unemployment rate among Latinos (5.6%) is substantially higher than the white unemployment rate. Clearly, much work remains to close the troubling economic inequities that persist in communities of color.
“From increasing the minimum wage and expanding opportunities for workers to earn paid leave to creating good-paying jobs and investing in our roads and bridges, House Democrats have an agenda to help hard-working Americans. Month after month, Congressional Republicans have chosen to block any meaningful legislation to address the issues facing our nation.
“It’s past time for Congressional Republicans to take their jobs seriously and get back to work. Americans can’t afford any more Republican inaction.”