Sen. Carper Statement on April Jobs Report

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement after the Department of Labor announced that the economy added 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent:

The American economy, particularly our private sector, continues to display resilience in the recovery from the steepest economic downturn since the Great Depression. The 130,000 private sector jobs added in the month of April marks 26 consecutive months of growth for a total of over 4 million jobs during that time period. We still have a long way to go, with many of our friends and neighbors out of work, but we’re making real progress, albeit slowly, toward recovering the millions of jobs lost in the wake of the financial crisis.

Congress and the Administration must build on this momentum and also ensure that we avoid measures that could harm the recovery. A top priority for the U.S. House of Representatives should be to follow the lead of the Senate and pass a bill to reform the U.S. Postal Service – an industry that employs over 8 million people and generates $1 trillion in economic activity each year. If the House fails to pass a bill by May 15th, the Postal Service could move forward with closing over 1,000 post offices and mail distribution centers across the country, putting the jobs that rely on the Postal Service in jeopardy and further threatening our fragile economy. Simply put, we can’t let that happen. The House must act soon.

After that, Congress has a lengthy to-do list, including reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, eliminating agricultural trade barriers, and convincing the House to pass the Senate’s bipartisan transportation bill to preserve two million construction jobs. I look forward to tackling these challenges in the coming weeks and continuing my efforts to create a more nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation in Delaware and across the country.

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