U.S. LABOR DEPT. OFFERS FIVE THINGS TO KNOW REGARDING APRIL EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

FROM:  U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT
OPA News Release
Five things you should know about the April employment numbers

WASHINGTON — With the release of the April 2015 Employment Situation Report today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez says there are five things you should know about the numbers:

With 223,000 jobs added in April, private-sector employment has grown for 62 consecutive months — the longest streak on record — to the tune of 12.3 million jobs over that time.

The national unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent in April, the lowest it's been since May 2008.

The unemployment rate a year ago, in April 2014, was 6.2 percent. Since that time, the labor force participation rate has held steady, which means the decline in the unemployment rate has been due to people getting jobs.

Job growth last month was particularly strong in three sectors: construction, professional and business services, and education and health services. These are sectors that have historically provided good-paying middle-class jobs.

Despite all of the progress made, wages continue to be the unfinished business of the recovery. Wage growth has been picking up, with the average hourly wage increasing by 2.2 percent over the last year. But too many working people are still earning poverty wages. It's long past time for Congress to act to raise the minimum wage so that every person can share in the prosperity being created

LABOR SECRETARY PEREZ ISSUES STATEMENT ON MARCH EMPLOYMENT SITUATION REPORT

FROM:  U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Statement of US Labor Secretary Perez on March employment numbers

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the March 2015 Employment Situation report released today:

"The economy added 126,000 new jobs in March (129,000 in the private sector), extending the longest streak of private sector job growth on record to 61 consecutive months, with 12.1 million jobs created over that time. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. Long-term unemployment fell to 1.6 percent, down 0.7 percentage points from a year ago. Average hourly earnings increased by 7 cents for all private-sector employees, contributing to a 2.1 percent increase in nominal hourly wages over the last 12 months.

"While March's numbers aren't as robust as we've seen over the last year, overall trends remain solid, and there is every reason to be optimistic about our economic trajectory going forward. We've made incredible strides since the depths of the Great Recession, but there's more work to do to make sure every person can benefit from this recovery. There's more to do to strengthen and grow our middle class.

"The Obama administration continues to make strong investments that will give people the in-demand skills required to succeed in 21st century jobs; by contrast, the Congressional majority's budget would mean 2.2 million fewer people in 2016 alone receiving job training and employment services. A new public-private initiative called TechHire is giving Americans pathways to well-paying IT jobs, which are currently available in the hundreds of thousands. And today, the president is announcing new steps to drive growth in clean energy and train 75,000 workers, including many veterans, for solar jobs.

"Wage growth remains the unfinished business of this recovery. While Wall Street employees are collectively taking home billions of dollars just in bonuses, minimum wage workers haven't had a raise since 2009. Even as many states and localities take action on this issue, we still need Congress to put partisanship aside and raise the federal wage floor.

"And to help working families, we also need to expand access to paid leave, so that no one has to lose a paycheck in order to take care of a sick child or spouse. This week we kicked off a nationwide tour — Lead on Leave: Empowering Working Families Across America — to highlight best practices from employers and state and local governments, raising awareness about the need nationwide for paid leave and other flexible workplace policies.

"These steps are essential to an agenda based on middle-class economics, where everyone has the chance to succeed. As we celebrate the progress of the last few years, we have to do more to ensure the rising tide lifts every boat. Working together, we can do more to expand opportunity and create an economy that works for everyone."

LABOR SECRETARY PEREZ MAKES STATEMENT ON SEPTEMBER EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

FROM:  U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT 

Statement of US Labor Secretary Perez on September employment numbers

WASHINGTON —WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the September 2014 Employment Situation report released today:

“The nation’s economic recovery continued in September with the addition of 248,000 new jobs. It was the 55th consecutive month of private-sector job creation, during which time businesses have created 10.3 million jobs. In 2014, we have experienced the most robust year-to-date private-sector job growth since 1998. The unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent, its lowest level since July 2008.
“Over the last year, there are 811,000 fewer people working part time for economic reasons. Hispanic unemployment now stands at 6.9 percent, a full two-percentage-point drop from a year ago. Hispanic poverty is also down significantly. And in 2013, overall childhood poverty had its largest year-to-year decrease since 1966.

“Things are unquestionably moving in the right direction, but we can do even better. The Labor Department and the Obama administration are working harder than ever not just to create more jobs and accelerate growth, but to strengthen the middle class and build an economy that works for everyone. Just this week, the Labor Department awarded more than $450 million to help community colleges train workers for the jobs of the 21st century – a bold long-term investment in our skills infrastructure similar to President Eisenhower’s interstate highway investment in our physical infrastructure nearly 60 years ago.

“On Wednesday, we helped nearly 200,000 workers get a raise, taking final steps to implement President Obama’s executive order increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour for workers on federal service and construction contracts.
“And we recently invested in states’ capacity to explore paid leave policies. As long as we remain the only industrialized nation where paid leave is not the law of the land, we are hurting both our families and the economy. Our failure to lead on leave keeps women out of the labor force, which costs us in valuable human capital and economic activity.

“Six years after the near-collapse of the U.S. economy, we have come a long, long way. The new foundation for growth is in place. The challenge now is to expand opportunity further, to help more people benefit from this recovery, and to ensure that prosperity is broadly shared.”

EXPORT-IMPORT BANK REPORTS FINANCING OVER $27 BILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 2013

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 
Export-Import Bank Financing Exceeds $27 Billion in FY’13
Supports more than 200,000 U.S. Jobs
Record Number of Small Businesses Reached

 Washington, DC – In Fiscal Year 2013 (FY’13) results released today, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) unveiled its annual numbers highlighting its approval of more than $27 billion in authorizations, which supported approximately 205,000 American jobs in communities across the country.

“This year American businesses exported a record $2.3 trillion worth of goods and services, and Ex-Im Bank played a key role in that success,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Over the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has created or sustained an estimated 1.2 million American jobs – including 205,000 jobs in FY’13 alone. The Bank is a great example of government operating at the speed of business. I would like to thank the dedicated Ex-Im Bank staff who help our nation’s businesses big and small remain globally competitive.”

Ex-Im Bank worked with more than 3,400 small businesses (89 percent of all transactions) – making it the highest number of small business deals in the Bank’s history. As part of its efforts to increase this portfolio, Ex-Im Bank has hosted more than 60 Global Access for Small Business forums across the country since launching the program in January 2011.

Key highlights 

Ex-Im financing created or supported an estimated 205,000 export-related U.S. jobs.
In FY’13, Ex-Im Bank authorized financing for a record high 3,842 export transactions, which totaled an estimated export value of $37.4 billion.
In FY’13, Ex-Im Bank approved 3,413 small-business authorizations – the highest number of small-business authorizations in the Bank’s history.

In the last five years (FY’09 to FY’13), Ex-Im Bank has assisted in financing more than $188 billion of U.S. exports and supported 1.2 million American jobs.
Manufacturing was the industry with the highest authorized amount at $8.4 billion, surpassing Aircraft for the first time since 1997.

LABOR SECRETARY PEREZ MAKES STATEMENT REGARDING OCTOBER EMPLOYMENT

FROM:  U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT 
Statement of Labor Secretary Perez on October employment numbers

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement about the October 2013 Employment Situation report released today:
"The American economy is resilient. Today's jobs report demonstrates continued steady growth, with the addition of 212,000 total private sector jobs in October. The unemployment rate, which fell in September to a nearly-five year low of 7.2 percent, remains essentially unchanged at 7.3 percent, while American manufacturers added 19,000 jobs in the month of October.

"But while American businesses continue to add jobs — 7.8 million over the last 44 months of private sector job growth — they do so in spite of Congress, not because of it. October's job growth was undoubtedly restrained by the brinksmanship and uncertainty created by the federal government shutdown and the near-default on the nation's debt.

"The American economy is resilient, but it is not immune to manufactured crises. We see signs that suggest the shutdown had a discouraging effect on America's continued recovery. We remain concerned about the drop in the labor force participation rate, and American workers on temporary layoffs rose by nearly 448,000, the largest monthly increase in the history of that series of data.
"The American people deserve leadership that focuses on growing the economy, not holding it hostage. Let's keep our eye on the ball by passing immigration reform, which has bipartisan support and would inject a trillion dollars into the economy, and investing in infrastructure upgrades that would create thousands of middle class jobs right now. Instead of erecting political roadblocks, let's work together to pave bipartisan roads to full recovery.

"Today's employment numbers are a reminder that while the economy continues to grow and create new jobs, it remains on uncertain footing. Too many Americans still find the rungs on the ladder of opportunity beyond their reach. We need to move forward with common-sense proposals that will create jobs, strengthen the middle class, reduce our deficit and expand opportunity for American families. The President and I stand ready to work with Congress to do just that."

U.S. SECRETARY OF LABOR HILDA L. SOLIS COMMENTS ON OCTOBER 2012 JOBS NUMBERS

Photo Credit:  U.S. Navy

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Statement of Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis on October employment numbers

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the October 2012 Employment Situation report released today:

"Our nation's labor market added 171,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in October, while the unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged at 7.9 percent. Additionally, our economy added back more than 84,000 jobs in August and September than had been initially reported.

"October's report marks 32 straight months of private sector job growth totaling more than 5.4 million jobs. We've also seen 13 consecutive quarters of private gross domestic product growth. In other words, we've been consistently growing jobs and our economy for several years running.

"Our unemployment rate has dropped by more than two percentage points under President Obama. Unemployment Insurance claims are at a four-year low. Consumer sentiment is at a four-year high. We've added more than a half-million manufacturing jobs over the last 32 months. And we just posted the largest 12-month increase in housing permits since 1983.

"We've transformed a terrible crisis into a stable and durable recovery. To state otherwise is to wage war on the facts. We've erased all of the private sector job losses since the president took office and created an additional 1.2 million new jobs.

"We know what works, and the president has a plan to accelerate our progress by investing in education and job training, and by creating good-paying 21st century jobs in health care, energy, technology and manufacturing. Our recovery depends on building a strong and educated middle class that creates enough demand for the private sector to keep adding new jobs. These efforts are foundational to our success in a 21st century economy."

SECRETARY OF LABOR HILDA L. SOLIS STATEMENT ON UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

Statement by Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on April employment numbers

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the April 2012 Employment Situation report released today:

"Our nation's labor market added 130,000 private sector jobs in the month of April, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent, its lowest level in three years.

"Over the last four months, we've added an average of 207,000 private sector jobs. Significantly, the labor market added 53,000 more private sector jobs in February and March than previously had been reported.

"I would characterize our growth as durable and steady. For 26 straight months, we have added private sector jobs. The national unemployment rate has fallen a full point in the last eight months. Layoffs are continuing to come down and are now back to 2006 levels.

"In April, our largest gains — 62,000 new jobs — were in good-paying business and professional services careers, meaning more architects, engineers, computer programmers and consultants are finding jobs. Also, we added another 19,000 manufacturing jobs in April. After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the deep recession, the economy has added 485,000 manufacturing jobs in the past 26 months.

"We've now created more than 4.2 million private sector jobs under this administration. We are seeing a resilient U.S. labor market continuing to recover from the deepest recession since the Great Depression. But there are still too many unemployed workers who still need assistance to get retrained to get back to work.

"We're on the right path, and we know our recovery would be even stronger if Congress hadn't blocked almost every single proposed investment in the American Jobs Act. The president believes we should be doing more to help state and local governments hire back teachers, policemen, firefighters and construction crews. And he believes we should be doing more to cut taxes on small businesses that are the engine of economic growth.

"Going forward, we have a choice to make. We can either make investments in things like education, transportation and new sources of energy — investments that have always been essential to America's businesses and to creating good middle class jobs. Or we give more tax breaks to wealthy Americans who don't need them and didn't ask for them.

"Prosperity has never just trickled down from a wealthy few. Prosperity has always grown from the heart of a strong middle class. That's why the president laid out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last, based on investments that put America in control of its energy future, improve education and skills for our workers, and support small business and American manufacturing, so we can make more things the world buys."