Harkin: June Jobs Report Shows Positive Economic Growth
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released the following statement on the June employment report showing that the economy added 288,000 jobs last month, with the national unemployment rate falling to 6.1 percent from 6.3 percent.
“Today’s jobs report demonstrates that our economy is on the right track. We had another month of steady job growth with 288,000 jobs added to the economy in June. That our country’s unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent, the lowest it has been since September 2008, is very encouraging. Yet with many Americans still looking for work, Congress must continue to enact policies that help middle class Americans and further strengthen the economy.
“In June, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, a bipartisan bill to update and improve the nation’s workforce development system, which will help workers in Iowa and around the country to gain new skills and training and help unemployed workers reenter the workforce. It is imperative that the House act now to approve this bill to help continue the economic recovery and help Americans get back to work.”
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was approved by the U.S. Senate on a vote of 95 to 3 on June 25, 2014 and is now awaiting consideration in the U.S. House. The bill modernizes and improves existing federal workforce development programs, helps workers attain skills for 21st century jobs, provides supports to people with disabilities to enter and remain in competitive, integrated job settings; and fosters the modern workforce that evolving American businesses rely on to compete. Harkin, as HELP Committee Chairman, was one of the Senators leading the effort to update and pass WIOA.
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