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Washington, DC - Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services offered the following statement regarding today’s job numbers report:
“Today’s jobs report confirms the concerns that I have expressed about a sharply slowing economy. It also confirms that the slowdown is having a particularly negative impact on working people.
“The report shows that the economy lost jobs on a net basis in January, the first such decline in four and a half years. In addition to this headline number, it’s important to note other serious weaknesses revealed in the report. Hours worked were down, and a bad wage situation has worsened - where previously wages were not keeping up with inflation, now earnings are actually falling. Additionally, overall revisions for 2007 point to a weaker job market for the entire year than was previously understood.
“This very troubling labor market picture not only is validation of the Fed’s recent rate cutting, and of the need for immediate action on a fiscal stimulus, but also underlines the importance of further government action both to deal with increasing economic inequality and weaknesses in the economy in general.”
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