Washington, DC - According to the employment report released today from the Department of Labor, results for May represent the fifth consecutive month of job growth. The report shows an overall increase of 431,000 jobs, including 41,000 private sector jobs and 411,000 temporary Census jobs. Total private sector employment has increased by 479,000 jobs since the beginning of the year.
“Today’s report is another sign that we are headed in the right direction, but further steps are necessary to boost job growth," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI). “It is vital that the Senate act immediately on the Jobs bill that passed the House and that Republicans start to join in the effort. The Jobs bill supports million of jobs through tax incentives like the R&D tax credit, bonding for infrastructure development, and it continues to provide support for unemployed workers as they look for work during this difficult recovery.
Congressional Republicans have almost uniformly opposed every recent job creation effort. Last year, every House Republican voted against the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office recently estimated increased the number of full-time equivalent jobs in the U.S. by up to 4.1 million in the first quarter of this year. Just last week, only one House Republican voted for H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which would continue restoring credit to small businesses, extend successful financing measures for rebuilding America’s infrastructure, expand summer jobs programs and continue emergency unemployment benefits for workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
