Today, the Department of Labor announced the unemployment rate for January was 9.0 percent. The weak jobs report marked the 21st consecutive month that the unemployment rate was at or above 9.0 percent. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement:

“While some people might hail the 9 percent unemployment rate as a step in the right direction, let’s be honest: there is no good news in today’s numbers. The unemployment rate dropped because a half million unemployed Americans simply gave up and stopped looking for work – not because they have found a job. In January alone, as many people left the labor force as have found jobs since May 2010. Clearly, this is the wrong direction for America and a stark reminder that the ‘spend and spend more’ attitude of the last two years doesn’t result in meaningful job creation. While we were able to block massive tax hikes in December, we must do more. Washington needs to get out of the way so job creators can get back into the game and Americans can get back to work. That begins with getting spending under control and removing the barriers our tax code and other policies place in front of families, small businesses and large employers alike.”

Facts About the January Jobs Report:

• This is the fewest private sector jobs created (50,000 in January 2011) since May 2010, when 48,000 private sector jobs were added.
• 504,000 people left the labor force in January alone – more than the total number of private sector jobs created in the last five months.
• The number of people who left the labor force in January alone is more than the labor force of each of seven states (AK, DE, MT, ND, SD, VT and WY) and the District of Columbia.
• Average duration of unemployment is now the longest on record at 36.9 weeks.
• There are nearly 3 million fewer private sector jobs today than there were in January 2009.

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