Post by bot on Jan 8, 2017 21:59:12 GMT -5
Hoyer Statement on December Jobs Report
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today after the Department of Labor released its jobs report for December:
“Today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report shows an economy that continues to produce jobs at a steady clip, with seventy-five consecutive months of positive job growth alongside 144,000 new private sector jobs created in December. The 115th Congress has a responsibility to build on the employment gains made over the past eight years by ensuring that the overwhelming trend continues and, more important, that everyone who has a job in this country also has opportunities to get ahead. That’s what House Democrats’ Make It In America plan is all about: putting more Americans back to work and making sure that hard work always pays off.
“With the new administration set to begin later this month, it is imperative that the Republican Congress and White House work together with Democrats to ensure that the strength of the Obama years are not squandered by mortgaging our economic future for a short-term gain. In addition to the unprecedented streak in job growth under the Obama Administration, the stock market has tripled, the latest quarter's GDP growth was a robust 3.5%, and new unemployment insurance claims are at the lowest level in forty-three years.
“The number one rule of our economic policy ought to be: first, do no harm. Repealing the Affordable Care Act without a workable replacement, as Republicans have said they intend to do, would endanger our economy and bring undue financial burden to millions of households. In fact, according to a report released yesterday by the Commonwealth Fund and Milken Institute School of Public Health, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would lead to the loss of almost 3 million private sector jobs in this country by 2021 – with jobs lost in every state.
“I hope the next White House will insist that Republicans in Congress use their Majority to expand jobs and opportunities for the American people, not jeopardize eight years’ worth of progress.”