The June Jobs Report

Statement

The latest jobs report is not good. In June, U.S. employers added just 80,000 jobs. About one-third of the jobs gained were in temporary help agencies. Though the above numbers will get a lot of media attention, they don't seem to be telling the whole story. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the percentage of American people who had jobs when Barack Obama took office was 65.7 percent. Today that number is 63.8 percent.

We have now reached 41 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent - the longest streak since the Great Depression. Despite the rhetoric from President Obama, I think it is abundantly clear that the economy is not moving forward. At best it appears to be at a virtual stand-still. Just last month the Federal Reserve downgraded its economic outlook for 2012. It predicted growth of just 1.9 percent to 2.4 percent for the year and the unemployment rate is expected to change only slightly. By comparison, though much of the world is experiencing a slow down, China's economy is still growing at about 7.5-8 percent. As your Congressman, I'm not satisfied to have the Chinese economy growing at about three times the rate of ours. [To get a better idea of why our current policy is not working, I recommend this historical account of past economic recoveries by Stanford Professor Ed Lazear.]

As many economists have argued, there are things that we can do immediately to turn this economy around. First, we need to unleash our energy potential -- as I've said for some time, we need to drill, dig, discover, and deregulate. Second, we need to overhaul our tax code -- make it simple, competitive, and efficient. Third, we need to drastically reduce the regulatory burdens on our businesses so they can expand and compete in the global market. Fourth, we need to return to the policies of the 90s -- we must cut spending.

American workers are the best in the world. We are the most innovative, and we will work harder than anybody else. I firmly believe that we can kick start this economy immediately. It is time to put aside the veto threats and the rhetoric. The American people need change now.

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