U.S. Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) and U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) reacted on Friday to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report that 151,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added in August.
The BLS report found that the nation’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent in August.
Coats, the chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said that the “lackluster jobs report” coupled with less than one percent overall economic growth and lower labor productivity suggests that the Obama administration’s policies have let Americans down.
“The economy needs to add more than 1.37 million private-sector jobs per month for the rest of the year to match the average job growth of modern recoveries,” Coats said. “On this Labor Day weekend, too many Americans are unemployed or underemployed. We need to reduce burdensome regulations and streamline our tax code to untie the hands of job creators and help us reach our economic potential.”
Tiberi, the vice chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said that the “modest” jobs report, combined with slow growth and weak production, demonstrates a “fragile and shallow” economic recovery under Obama.
“Obama administration policies raise costs and increase uncertainty rather than create the economic opportunity Americans deserve,” Tiberi said. “House Republicans have a better way to propel our economy forward. Our plan to reduce burdensome regulations, update our antiquated tax code, encourage private investment, and fix the broken promises of Obamacare will grow our economy, encourage job creators to hire and increase opportunity for all Americans.”