Washington, DC – Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) today issued the following reaction to the August jobs report:

“The fact that the unemployment rate has remained this high for this long is completely unacceptable.  The debt is already dragging down our economy and yet Democrats in Washington are talking about more wasteful stimulus spending and even higher taxes.  That would be the worst possible prescription for Americans looking for work.  We simply cannot tax and spend our way out of this problem.  If we want to create jobs in this country, we have to make it clear that we are serious about getting spending back under control and that Americans – especially small businesses – will not face higher taxes.”

As the chart below shows, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in August – the 16th consecutive month above 9 percent – and a level that is nearly 2.5 percentage points higher than President Obama’s economic team predicted it would be with their $1 trillion stimulus bill.

Sources: January 2009 Romer/Bernstein Report and actual U.S. Department of Labor data.

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