Representative Mike Kelly Reacts to Bad Jobs Report for Pennsylvania

Representative Mike Kelly Reacts to Bad Jobs Report for Pennsylvania

Washington, D.C. —Representative Mike Kelly (PA-03) issued the following statement in response to today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that payroll employment in Pennsylvania declined during the month of September by 15,800 jobs:

“Speaking from the Senate floor this week, Senator Harry Reid said, ‘It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing fine.’ With all due respect to the Democratic Majority Leader, what planet does he live on?

“Here are the sobering, and very clear, facts about unemployment in America and in Pennsylvania:

• Our nation’s unemployment rate is 9.1 percent.
• The unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 32 consecutive months, despite promises from President Obama that passing the 2009 $1 trillion stimulus would keep unemployment below 8 percent. 
• In fact, from March 2009 (the month after the failed $1 trillion “stimulus” was enacted) through September 2011, unemployment averaged 9.4 percent.
• The nation’s chronically high unemployment rate is the longest such stretch since the Great Depression. 
• In addition to the nearly 14 million Americans out of work, a recent U.S. News & World Report article pointed out that an unprecedented 26 million Americans are underemployed.
• Payroll employment in Pennsylvania declined during the month of September by 15,800 jobs, or 0.28% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
• The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania increased to 8.3 percent in September 2011 from a rate of 8.2 percent in August 2011. 

“To get Americans working again, and to prevent unemployment from further trending in the wrong direction throughout the Commonwealth, we need to focus on putting in place pro-growth policies that will help the private sector spur job creation, supporting small business and promoting entrepreneurship. To do this, we need a jobs plan focused on:

• Boosting manufacturing competitiveness by opening new markets to American-made goods, including through job-creating free trade agreements.

• Maximizing domestic energy production to help lower costs and create jobs while stopping anti-energy policies that detract from these goals.

• Identifying regulatory barriers to small business job creation, fixing them, and requiring congressional approval of any future rules that may hurt the economy.

• Fixing the tax code to help job creators so that it can be source of economic growth instead of a drain on families and small businesses.

• Paying down our debt and living within our means through spending cuts, tough caps, and a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

“There are at least 15 House-passed jobs bills that remain stalled in the Senate because Senator Reid won’t bring the bills to the floor for a vote. Given Mr. Reid’s comment that the private job market is doing just fine, his inaction should come as no surprise, however, it is met with profound disappointment.”

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