Congressman Garamendi: New March Job Figures Further Evidence That Democratic Recovery Efforts Are Working

Statement

Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA) today issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor released a new jobs report showing that 162,000 jobs were created in March, the most in three years:

"The March jobs report is encouraging. More Americans were hired last month than in any month over the past three years. While we are not out of the wilderness yet, our economic footing is secure and we are on our way to a bright, prosperous day. But our work is not done. We must continue to advance policies that will grow and strengthen the middle-class through long-term job creation and moving more people out of poverty.

"In March, we created 162,000 jobs in a number of sectors. Take America's health sector, an industry that currently represents 17 percent of our economy. As anticipation for the passage of comprehensive health care reform grew, the health sector picked up 27,000 new jobs in March, demonstrating one of the positive economic aspects of health reform. Another bright spot was in manufacturing, where 17,000 jobs were created following an economy-wide uptake in purchase orders.

"As we follow the slow road to recovery, it's important that we remember how we got here. Because of the reckless fiscal policies of President Bush and his Republican allies in Congress, our economy was put on the precipice of collapse by the end of 2008. When President Obama and Democrats in Congress inherited the mess that was the American economy, they understood that a measured, long-term approach to economic policy was necessary.

"Surmounting partisan doomsday scare tactics, our leaders in 2009 wisely pursued a new course for the American economy, passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other pro-growth, pro-jobs bills. Grounded in the lessons of past American recoveries, they emphasized investments in infrastructure and efficiency projects that created jobs in the present while leaving the American economy with tangible improvements that will survive decades. With tax cuts and other incentives targeting middle- and working-class Americans and with extensions of unemployment insurance, Congress also put money directly into the hands of the people who needed it the most and were most likely to put the money directly back into the American economy.

"The result? While we have a long hard road ahead, our economy is showing signs of stabilizing. Jobs are being created; homes are being saved; businesses are once again looking to expand. Our work is not done, but our economic strategy is clearly working.

"Moving forward, we need significant financial sector regulations to make sure Wall Street can no longer play Russian roulette with our economy. We need to offer more incentives to small businesses, the primary incubators of jobs in America, to make sure they have the resources they need to expand and hire new workers. And we need a new jobs bill that puts resources directly in the hands of the local governments that understand the needs and priorities of their communities best.

"Our economy cannot afford complacency, but even more so, we cannot afford to fall back to the failed economic policies of the previous administration. We're on a path to recovery. Let's stay there."

The Labor Department also revised its January and February projections, finding that the economy gained 14,000 jobs in January and lost 14,000 jobs in February, an improvement over previous projections estimating that the economy would lose 26,000 jobs in January and lose 36,000 jobs in February. Largely because of Congressional recovery efforts, from January 2009 to January 2010, America saw more than a ten-fold improvement in job loss figures.

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