103,000 Jobs in September Positive News, but Ongoing Jobs Crisis Still Calls for Swift Passage of President's Jobs Plan, Says Rep. Garamendi

FAIRFIELD, CA – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA) released the following statement after the Department of Labor announced that while the economy added 103,000 jobs in September, the unemployment rate remained stubbornly stuck at 9.1 percent. With 137,000 jobs added by private businesses, this marks the 19th consecutive month of private sector job growth:

 

"Today's jobs report offers a veneer of positive news that while encouraging cannot obscure the crisis at hand: Americans need jobs and they need them now. By adding well over a million jobs to the economy, the American Jobs Act is our best shot at preventing another painful recession.

 

"Instead of engaging in partisan griping, the House Republican Leadership should have us vote on this bipartisan bill- which is backed by the American public and economists across the political spectrum.

 

"The President has crisscrossed the country, meeting Americans who desperately need Congress to pass this bill. From the small business owners who need customers, to the unemployed teachers who can no longer educate our children because of budget cuts, to the disheartened college educated Americans who, through no fault of their own, have seen their resumes disappear into a black hole and have been unemployed for over a year. They need the jobs bill as do our unemployed construction workers who could rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and our veterans, who have bravely served their country overseas only to return home to the toughest job market in decades.

 

"The American people have spoken. They cannot wait and they should not wait. We should pass this jobs bill right now."