December Jobs Report - We Still Have Work To Do

Today, the Department of Labor announced that the economy added 200,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent:

With 212,000 jobs added by private businesses, December marks the 22nd consecutive month of private sector job growth. It also means that under President Obama, in either 2010 (1.2 million private sector jobs) or 2011 (1.9 million private sector jobs), more private sector jobs were created than under the eight years of the Bush Administration (-653,000 private sector jobs):

Leader Pelosi on today's report:

Today's jobs report is a step in the right direction but we still have work to do.

After a year of failing to offer a jobs agenda despite millions of Americans being out of work, the Republican House remains out of session. We can't afford any more Republican made-up crises that hurt our middle class. And we can't wait any longer to act to create jobs and strengthen our economy - starting with a full-year extension of the payroll tax cut that puts more money back in the pockets of working families.

Democrats are committed to reigniting the American dream by building ladders of opportunity. It's time for House Republicans to join Democrats and get back on the job putting people to work.