Today's Jobs Report Confirms Bush is First President to Lose Jobs Since Herbert Hoover

Pelosi: 'Today's Jobs Report Confirms Bush is First President to Lose Jobs Since Herbert Hoover'

Washington, D.C.-House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement this morning on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' announcement that only 96,000 jobs were created in September, far lower than what economists had predicted:

"Today's disappointing jobs numbers confirm that President Bush is the first president to lose jobs on his watch in more than 70 years, since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. Yet Republicans remain in denial.

"President Bush and Republicans in Congress seem to be the only ones who do not understand that over the last four years, we have lost 1.6 million private-sector jobs, wages have not kept pace with inflation, and the number of jobs created has not even kept pace with the number of people entering the workforce.

"Instead, Republicans continue to push their failed economic policies including billions in new tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas. Their rosy scenarios show how out of touch they are with the needs and aspirations of middle-income Americans.

"America can do better, and Democrats will do better. Democrats will create 10 million new jobs over the next four years, reform the tax code to reward companies for creating secure jobs in America, and enact middle class tax relief to grow the economy."