Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement in response to the latest unemployment figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor. The report indicated that despite the economy adding more jobs in April than in any other month since 2006, the unemployment rate rose to nine percent, the first time it has increased since November 2010:
"Today's announcement is mixed news for our economy. Like many Americans, I remain concerned about our nation's sustained high unemployment rate. It is time for the Administration and Senator Reid to join us in reducing government spending and making the reforms necessary to spur robust job growth. America's job creators--especially small businesses--have been burdened by anti-growth regulations and policies coming out of Washington for years. Real growth will occur only when we put an end to overregulation and out of control government spending and debt."
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses have generated 64 percent of the net new jobs over the past 15 years, and they employ just over half of the country's private sector workforce.