Employment Situation in August

· The August employment report shows private sector payrolls increased by 17,000 and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent.



· Despite strong headwinds throughout the year slowing down economic growth, the economy has now added private sector jobs for 18 straight months, for a total of 2.4 million jobs over that period.



· We know times are tough. The reality is the challenges facing middle class Americans weren’t created overnight, and they can’t be solved overnight.



· The unemployment rate is unacceptably high and we need faster economic growth to replace the millions of jobs lost during the recession.



· As the President has said many times, he will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a job. We’re working tirelessly to promote hiring and spur economic growth so families across the country can feel confident in their future and the future of their children.



· On September 8th, President Obama will give a speech to a Joint Session of Congress on a series of proposals to accelerate economic growth and create jobs.



· The President will lay out bipartisan proposals for Congress to take up immediately that will support the American economy by helping small businesses, getting Americans back to work, and putting more money in the back pockets of middle class and working Americans, all while reducing the deficit and getting our fiscal house in order.



· The President said: “It is our responsibility to find bipartisan solutions to help grow our economy, and if we are willing to put country before party, I am confident we can do just that.”



· These proposals build on what the President has been pushing Congress to get done for the American people, but will include new ideas to spur job growth in the short term.



· The package will include tax cuts to promote job growth and economic security for the middle class, new infrastructure ideas to get more folks working, and proposals to help the long term unemployed.





· These proposals will be full of ideas that have enjoyed bipartisan support in the past. They are supported by a wide range of economists as the most efficient and effective way to create jobs and strengthen the economy.



· On top of the ideas President Obama will put forth after Labor Day, he will continue to put forward other economic ideas to provide economic security to the middle class and rebuild the economy. These will be both legislative and executive actions.



· Middle class Americans have met their responsibilities, and now it’s time for leaders in Washington to do the same. We need to come together, reach across the aisle and start acting in unison to move the country forward. We need to put politics and political gain aside to work together solving the problems that face our nation.



Additional information on numbers:

· The payroll numbers for August include a temporary strike that depressed employment the week of the survey—taking this into account, in August private sector payrolls increased by 62,000.



· Growth sectors during August included health care and social services (+35,500) and professional and business services (+28,000). Sectors that declined included information (-48,000, which includes Verizon employees who were on strike), construction (-5,000), and manufacturing (-3,000).



· Local governments lost 20,000 jobs in August and have shed 398,000 jobs since February 2010. State government added 5,000 jobs as approximately 22,000 furloughed state workers in Minnesota returned to work.