Sen. Carper Statement on March 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 120,000 private sector jobs in March and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.2 percent:

“While we’re pleased to see the unemployment rate drop slightly, a number of us had hoped for somewhat stronger job growth last month; however, there is a silver lining or two in this report. Our economy has produced 25 consecutive months of private sector job growth and 4 million new jobs as far fewer Americans are filing for unemployment insurance. Additionally, our manufacturing sector – which added 37,000 jobs in March for a total of 466,000 jobs in the past 25 months – is creating more jobs than any time since the mid-1990s. We still have a long way to go, with many of our friends and neighbors out of work, but we’re witnessing real progress as America continues to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.

“To help ensure that progress continues, the President yesterday signed into law a bipartisan jobs bill, a portion of which I coauthored. That measure will improve access to capital for businesses large and small, helping them create additional jobs here at home. Congress has the opportunity to build on this bipartisan momentum by addressing more challenges facing our economy right away. Next up in the Senate will be legislation that I also coauthored that will help the U.S. Postal Service return to solvency. The U.S. Postal Service operates at the center of an industry that employs some 8 million people. After that, we need to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank which is helping to finance our export-led recovery. At the same time, we must redouble our efforts to eliminate agricultural trade barriers erected by Russia, China, India and Mexico to keep American food products — including poultry — out of those countries. And then, we need to convince the House to pass the Senate’s bipartisan transportation bill to preserve two million construction jobs while creating as many as a million new ones to rebuild our crumbling roads, highways, bridges and transit systems.

“I’m looking forward to tackling these challenges in the coming weeks. By working together, I know we can do our part to create a more nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation in Delaware and across the country.”

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