Washington, D.C. — Today the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 195,000 new jobs were added in June and the unemployment rate stayed at 7.6 percent. Upward revisions to the prior two months’ data added 70,000 jobs. Heather Boushey, Chief Economist at the Center for American Progress, had the following reaction to the announcement of June’s employment figures:
Today’s new data show a labor market continuing along a path to recovery. There was job growth across a variety of industries and wages rose by 10 cents. But even as employers add jobs, the share of the U.S. population at work didn’t rise above 58.7 percent, continuing to stay within the same small band it’s been contained in since September 2009. Given this, it’s hard to believe that our work pushing the economy toward full employment is anywhere close to done.
To spur the kind of job creation our nation needs, Congress needs to change course. While the Federal Reserve has taken important steps in support of economic recovery, Congress has been working against them. The sequester—the across-the-board cuts of a total of more than $85 billion that began to be implemented in March of this year—continues to work its way through the economy, dragging us down day by day. While the economy may be strong enough to withstand those kinds of cuts and not fall back into recession, this certainly is not the right path forward to improve our nation’s overall employment situation.
To speak with Heather Boushey about the monthly jobs report, please contact Katie Peters at [email protected] or 202.741.6285.
###