Washington, DC – Today, Heather Boushey, Senior Economist at the Center for American Progress, had the following reaction to the announcement of February’s unemployment figures:
"The employment picture improved in February as employers added 192,000 jobs. Slow job growth continues to keep people out of the labor force as the share of the population working or seeking work is 64.2 percent, the lowest since 1984. State and local government layoffs are weighing down job growth as these governments have shed 241,000 jobs over the past year even as unemployment remains high at 8.9 percent. Cutting necessary investments in our human capital, our infrastructure, and the next generation of scientific and technological advances—as is being debated on Capitol Hill—will only exacerbate the weakness in the labor market both in the short run and long run."
To speak to Boushey about the monthly jobs report, contact Megan Smith at 202-741-6346 or [email protected].
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