Casey Statement on Jobless Rate

WASHINGTON, DC- This morning, Senator Casey responded to the new Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) job report for the month of September, which showed that the American economy lost 159,000 jobs. The BLS also revised statistics for July and August, showing that during those months the American economy lost 4,000 more jobs than initially projected. So far this year, the economy has lost 768,000 jobs.

“The American economy continues to hemorrhage jobs and the credit crunch threatens to hurt the economy even further. American families have been in recession for over a year as prices of everyday expenses such as food, gas, health care and education continue to rise and wages remain flat,” said Senator Casey.

“The credit crunch and measurements of manufacturers’ sentiment mean our fragile economy is at great risk of losing over 1 million jobs for the year. Congress must stabilize the economy now by rescuing credit markets and when it returns in November, must pass an economic stimulus to help struggling families.”

Earlier this week, Senator Casey responded to statistics showing that unemployment in Pennsylvania rose to 5.8 percent in the month of August, leaving 372,000 Pennsylvanian workers looking for work. In August, the foreclosure rate in Pennsylvania also jumped 60% compared with one year ago.

State by state and county level unemployment data for Pennsylvania in the month of September will not be available until the second half of November.