Statement on Five Year High Unemployment Rate of 6.1 Percent

Floor Speech

Statement on Five Year High Unemployment Rate of 6.1 Percent

U.S. Representative Tom Allen issued the statement below on the report today by the U.S. Department of Labor that employers cut 84,000 jobs in August and that the nation's unemployment rate had reached a five year high of 6.1 percent:

"Today's report of another 84,000 jobs lost is further evidence of the need for dramatic change in our nation's economic and energy policies and for another economic stimulus to drive growth and rekindle prosperity. Our economy has shed more than 600,000 jobs so far this year, including the recent loss of 150 jobs when Prime Tanning announced the closure of its facility in Berwick. Soaring energy prices have forced many employers to lay off workers or cut back on their hours. When Congress reconvenes next week, my top priority will be to provide immediate relief for families and small businesses from the high cost of gasoline and heating fuel. I will also push for passage of a new economic stimulus package that will create good jobs for hardworking Americans. We need to invest in the workforce that will repair our crumbling infrastructure, increase domestic oil production and develop the new technologies and fuels America needs to achieve independence from foreign oil."

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