Not only did August’s jobs report reveal that the American economy added 255,000 jobs in July, it marked an even more important milestone for our country’s economy. Our job growth in July means that over the past 77 months, the private sector has added 15 million jobs to the economy. This marks the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record. This also marks an unemployment rate cut in half, and a deficit shrunk by nearly two-thirds over the same period of time.
President Obama’s leadership and Democratic policies in Congress were able to bring our economy back from one of the worst economic crisis in history. Despite obstruction and gridlock, we have seen successful and historic growth in our economy.
In Nevada, we have one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation. In June, it was announced that the Las Vegas metro area added more 26,000 jobs since last summer. The unemployment rate in the Las Vegas metro area has been cut exactly in half from June of 2011 to June of this year. Small business employment has grown, and we’ve seen entrepreneurs across the state benefit from our strengthening economy.
Despite great growth across the country and here in Nevada, there is still far more work to be done. It is time for both parties to come together in Congress to build on this important progress. This jobs report should be a wakeup call to everyone. We should do even more . Every American should benefit from our nation’s economic growth, and far too many have not. We should be working together to continue to boost our nation’s economy. We should focus on middle class priorities.
Democrats will continue to fight wealthy special interests who try to rig the system in favor of big corporations. We will continue to fight for fair wages and equal pay for women. We will continue to do everything we possibly can to strengthen our middle class. Everyone in this country deserves a fair shot at the American Dream. Our economy should work for everybody, and I will continue fighting in Washington to ensure that is the case.
