[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18479]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE IMPROVING JOB MARKET

  (Mr. PERLMUTTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friends wanting to talk 
about jobs. They have the arguments that they want to pursue, but they 
don't want to let the facts get in the way of their argument. Let's 
start with the report we received today from the Federal Reserve.
  We know that jobs fell off a cliff last fall and earlier this year as 
part of the Bush administration's efforts for jobs. Private nonfarm 
employment fell by 670,000 jobs on average per the month from January 
to April, but declines slowed to 312,000 in May and 415,000 in June. 
The May and June declines in construction jobs were the smallest since 
last fall.
  Job declines and temporary employment applications slowed noticeably, 
and employment in nonbusiness services turned up in May and increased 
further in June. That's why we have the stock market going up. That's 
why consumer confidence is going up is because this is working, even if 
my friends' arguments are not working.

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