Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX), the lead House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee released the following statement after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the August unemployment rate increased to 9.7%:

“The U.S. lost 216,000 jobs in August alone and this is unacceptable,” said Brady.  “The real recovery for American families will only come when employment is rising again and the unemployment rate declines significantly,” Brady added.

 “Some data suggests that the economy may be bottoming out, but the fact of the matter is, the stimulus was too slow, didn’t prevent the unemployment rate from rising above 8 percent as promised, and has not helped American families and small businesses while adding to a nearly $2 trillion deficit,” Brady continued.