04.02.10
“Today’s news that our nation created the most jobs in three years is a sign that our efforts are helping to move our economy in the right direction. When President Obama first inherited this crisis, our economy was losing around 700,000 jobs a month. Today’s figures reflect what private sector economists have told us: that the Recovery Act has increased economic activity and is helping to restore confidence in families and businesses.
“But, we are not out of the woods yet. All across the country, local communities are announcing layoffs of thousands of teachers, public safety officers and other vital personnel because of tight budgets. These layoffs threaten to reverse today’s positive economic report and stall the real progress we are making. House Democrats and a bipartisan group of mayors introduced legislation to create one million public and private sector jobs to help restore vital services that families and local communities rely on.”
The Local Jobs for America Act, authored by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), will save and create jobs quickly in both the public and private sectors. The bill – developed with mayors, county officials and others – will provide $75 billion over two years to local communities to hold off planned cuts or to hire back workers for local services who have been laid-off. Funding would go directly to eligible local communities and nonprofit community organizations to decide how best to use the funds.
The bill also includes $24 billion, already approved by the House in December, to help states support 250,000 education jobs, put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat, and retain, rehire, and hire firefighters; and fund approximately 50,000 additional private-sector on-the-job training positions to help businesses put people back to work.
Chairman Miller Statement on Encouraging March Jobs Report
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 162,000 jobs were created in March, the largest monthly job gain in three years. Excluding the expected bump in temporary census hiring, private sector hiring was still the highest last month since the recession began.“Today’s news that our nation created the most jobs in three years is a sign that our efforts are helping to move our economy in the right direction. When President Obama first inherited this crisis, our economy was losing around 700,000 jobs a month. Today’s figures reflect what private sector economists have told us: that the Recovery Act has increased economic activity and is helping to restore confidence in families and businesses.
“But, we are not out of the woods yet. All across the country, local communities are announcing layoffs of thousands of teachers, public safety officers and other vital personnel because of tight budgets. These layoffs threaten to reverse today’s positive economic report and stall the real progress we are making. House Democrats and a bipartisan group of mayors introduced legislation to create one million public and private sector jobs to help restore vital services that families and local communities rely on.”
The Local Jobs for America Act, authored by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), will save and create jobs quickly in both the public and private sectors. The bill – developed with mayors, county officials and others – will provide $75 billion over two years to local communities to hold off planned cuts or to hire back workers for local services who have been laid-off. Funding would go directly to eligible local communities and nonprofit community organizations to decide how best to use the funds.
The bill also includes $24 billion, already approved by the House in December, to help states support 250,000 education jobs, put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the beat, and retain, rehire, and hire firefighters; and fund approximately 50,000 additional private-sector on-the-job training positions to help businesses put people back to work.
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