Weekly Address: Fighting for the American Jobs Act

President Obama discusses the letters he receives every day asking for action on jobs and calls on Congress to pass the American Jobs Act right away to cut taxes, create jobs and provide a win for the American people.

Meeks: 'This Approach Creates a Basis for Bipartisan Compromise and Swift Congressional Action'

New York Congressman Issues Statement on President Obama's Speech on the American Jobs Act

JAMAICA, NY-- Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (NY-6), Senior Member of the House Financial Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement on President Barack Obama’s speech on the American Jobs Act to a joint session of Congress:

“Last night, President Obama undertook to bring the nation and the Congress together around a bold plan to put millions of Americans back to work rebuilding America. I commend the President for incorporating ideas previously put forward by Democrats and Republicans in his American Jobs Act.

This approach creates a basis for bipartisan compromise and swift congressional action. I call on my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to respond to the challenge of putting the American people ahead of politics and act on the President’s proposals with a sense of urgency and cooperation.”

Photo source: http://www.house.gov/meeks/images/Meeksphoto.jpg

Author: U.S. House of Representatives
Permission: Public Domain

President Obama Presents American Jobs Act (Enhanced Version)

Weekly Address: Time to Act on the Transportation Bill

President Obama calls on Congress to pass a clean extension of the transportation bill to keep America moving and avoid costing nearly one million workers their jobs.

West Wing Week: Mailbag Day, Summer Edition 2011

This week, Mailbag Day, Summer Edition 2011, where we take some questions from you and pose them to White House officials.

Weekly Address: Getting the Economy Growing Faster

President Obama outlines a number of steps that can be taken right away to create jobs and help the economy grow.

President Obama News Conference

President Obama holds a news conference in the East Room of the White House to answer questions on the deficit reduction negotiations and other topics.

A Renaissance in American Manufacturing

President Obama kicks off the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a national collaboration between the government, industries, and universities to invest in cutting-edge technologies, create new jobs and bring about a renaissance in American manufacturing.

West Wing Week: "The Receding Tide"

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, President Obama addressed the nation on his plan to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, delivering on a promise he made to the American people in December of 2009. The President also traveled Fort Drum to meet with soldiers and their families, welcomed young elected officials to the White House, and talked to mayors from across the country about job creation and economic growth.

President Obama Addresses Council on Jobs and Competitiveness

The President speaks about the importance of creating new jobs and conditions where businesses can thrive at a meeting of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness in Durham, North Carolina.

White House Briefs

The Campaign To Cut Waste

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden speak about the Administration's ongoing effort to make government more accountable to the American people through The Campaign to Cut Waste.

The Campaign To Cut Waste will build on the Accountable Government Initiative, led by OMB Director Jacob Lew and OMB's Deputy Director for Management and Federal Chief Performance Officer Jeffrey Zients, which has already tackled waste and inefficiency in many areas across government, cutting contracting spending for the first time in 13 years, identifying $3 billion in information technology savings, shutting down duplicative data centers and getting rid of excess federal real estate.

This campaign continues the steps the administration has taken to date to reduce government waste and make government work better for the American people.

'The Monthly Employment and Unemployment Numbers are Volatile'

Statement by CEA Chairman Austan Goolsbee on the Employment Situation in May

WASHINGTON - Today, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Austan Goolsbee, stated the following:

Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 83,000 in May and the unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent. There are always bumps on the road to recovery, but the overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years.

While the private sector has added more than 2.1 million jobs over the past 15 months, the unemployment rate is unacceptably high and faster growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. The initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – have contributed to solid employment growth overall this year, but this report is a reminder of the challenges that remain. We are focused on promoting exports, reducing regulatory burdens and making the investments in education, research and development, and infrastructure that will grow our economy and create jobs. We will continue to work with Congress to responsibly reduce the deficit and live within our means.

Overall payroll employment rose by 54,000 in May. Solid employment increases occurred in professional and business services (+44,000) and education and health services (+34,000). Sectors with employment declines included local government (-28,000), retail trade (-8,500), and manufacturing (-5,000). Despite the decline this month, manufacturing has added 238,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, the best period of manufacturing job growth in over a decade.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.