“Today’s announcement that the U.S. economy lost jobs for the third straight month is deeply disturbing. The nation’s unemployment rate has reached 6 percent, and 8.8 million Americans are out of work.
Since January 2001, America has lost 2.7 million private sector jobs, and an additional 6 million workers have only been able to find part-time work. In Washington state alone more than 61,000 men and women have lost their jobs.
Behind each of these statistics is a real person who wants to work to but who can’t find a job in this struggling economy. In these uncertain times, we need to extend a hand to those who are hurting the most. That’s why I was proud to have succeeded in passing an extension of unemployment assistance for the thousands of Boeing workers in our state who have lost their jobs.
For the thousands of others who have been laid off, I am co-sponsoring a bill to extend unemployment assistance for 26 weeks after the current extension of benefits runs out at the end of May.
Unemployment assistance is not the answer to our economic recovery, but it is an important step in helping unemployed workers get through this tough time. As we move forward, we need to continue to support education, transportation, health care and other long-term investments to put Americans back to work.”
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