Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement on a report from the Department of Labor that more than 288,000 people found work in June, reducing the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, the lowest level since the economic crisis started in September 2008.

The report also indicated that the rate of long term unemployment has declined to 2.0 percent, as more companies are hiring workers who had been unable to find a job for more than six months.

“This report demonstrates that our economy is rebounding. Small businesses led the way in creating 117,000 jobs last month and our economy has continued to recover from the economic crisis under the leadership of President Obama,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who as a member of the House Small Business committee, has worked to extend unemployment benefits to allow people who want to find a job to continue their search with security of assistance that will protect against the slide into debt. “In addition, we must also remember our responsibility to support the continued expansion of the economy, by reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank of the United States, to protect and improve free and fair international trade, and renewing the Highway and Transit Trust Fund, to rebuild our roads and bridges. I’d also urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to allow for a vote on increasing the minimum wage. There are millions of workers with full-time employment whose wages are insufficient to support their families. An increase to $10.10 an hour would affirm the dignity of work, and allow millions of Americans to escape from poverty.”

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.