WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July jobs report showing that the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 9.1% and 117,000 total nonfarm jobs were added:
“Today’s Employment Report emphasizes that Washington must move quickly to enact common-sense measures to create jobs and strengthen the economy. Far too many Americans remain unemployed. We should provide new incentives for small firms to hire, such as a payroll tax credit for small businesses equal to 20 percent of the total increase in employee wages. We need to strengthen U.S. manufacturing by creating a national manufacturing strategy that supports manufacturing companies and workers in our country and cracks down on China’s currency manipulation and other unfair trade practices.
“Yesterday, the JEC released a report on long-term unemployment. The report shows that workers are continuing to face near-record levels of long-term unemployment. The longer an individual is unemployed, the harder it is to find a job – that’s why it’s so critical we act quickly to help Americans get back to work.”
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