WASHINGTON, DC- Following the release of the latest national unemployment figures, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement:
“The unemployment rate for July beat expectations by dropping to 9.4%. Earlier this week, the latest GDP data revealed a slower decline. This is all good news if you are an economist, but the average American is probably not feeling the relief. The economic news does offer hope that we are turning around the recession that we have been in for over a year and a half. I do not think it is a coincidence that we are seeing some positive signs as our economic recovery efforts begin to work through the economy in the form of tax relief, road projects and other investments.
“The number of jobs lost in July was the lowest in almost a year. However, 247,000 Americans still lost their jobs. New jobless claims announced this week dropped from the previous week, but 6.3 million Americans are still filing for unemployment. Data from the previous month showed Pennsylvania to be in a better situation than the country as a whole, but over 500,000 Pennsylvanians are out of work and more than a million Pennsylvanians lack health insurance.
“The long-term unemployed are beginning to or already have exhausted their unemployment benefits. We must provide more relief to those who can’t find work by extending unemployment benefits. I will work hard to make sure the Senate passes comprehensive unemployment benefit legislation during the next session. This will not only provide a measure of relief to the unemployed, it will also help generate economic activity to boost our economy.”
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