WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) issued the following statement today after the Department of Labor announced that the economy added only 74,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent due to a reduction in the number of people looking for work:

“Today’s jobs report provides the strongest evidence yet of the need to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Our improving unemployment rate, now nationally at 6.7 percent, is driven not by an increase in net new jobs, but rather by a decline in our country’s labor force participation rate as more frustrated Americans who cannot find jobs dropout of the workforce.

“With a clear picture that our country’s long-term unemployment problem is worsening, Congress must push past partisan divisions to find a fiscally responsible solution to extend this vital safety net. To that end, I have introduced a bipartisan amendment with Senators Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Joe Manchin of Virginia that would reduce overlapping unemployment and disability benefits and use the revenue generated to pay for an extension of the program, and I am pleased that a similar version of our amendment has been included in the compromise plan offered by the Majority Leader yesterday.

“Additionally, as Congress debates an extension, we must also begin to examine and analyze the underlying causes of our long-term unemployment problem and focus on promoting job training and education programs that can assist in equipping those who seek new job opportunities with the necessary skills for success in today’s constantly evolving job market.”

“These disappointing numbers also underscore the fact that Congress’s inability to compromise on some of the most pressing economic issues of our time has only cast a pall over our economy and that should weigh on our collective conscience. The best action we could take to reduce our deficit would be to compromise and move forward on measures that improve the economy.”

###