Today, U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, released the following statement after the U.S Department of Labor released the jobs report for the month of January:

“This month’s jobs report indicated that the economy added 243,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell from 8.5 percent in December to 8.3 percent in January.  It is encouraging to see that 257,000 jobs were added by private businesses, marking the 23rd consecutive month of private sector job growth.

“The jobs report also indicated that the unemployment rate in the African American community fell from 15.8 percent in December 2011 to 13.6 percent in January.  While I am encouraged by this trend, as a legislative body, Congress must remain focused on passing legislation, policies and initiatives that puts Americans back to work.

“In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he proposed many initiatives that will help put American back to work.  I call on my Republican colleagues to work with House Democrats and the White House to make that difference.  Let’s work together to maintain the downward trend of the unemployment rate.”

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