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OPA News Release: [01/10/2003]
Contact Name: Sue
Hensley
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676
Statement of U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao on
Unemployment Numbers for December 2002
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao issued the
following statement today about the unemployment data for December:
“The unemployment rate of 6.0 percent remained unchanged for
December from the previous month, but the numbers also showed a loss in payroll
employment of 101,000.
“Today’s numbers are further evidence of the need to pass the
President’s growth package, a plan that provides an immediate infusion
into the economy and fuels sustained economic growth.
“The President’s plan will put more money in the pockets of
America’s families—lowering marginal tax rates, eliminating the
marriage penalty for lower and middle-income earners, and ending the double
taxation on dividends that more than half of our seniors rely upon.
“The unemployment data also indicate that the unemployed continue
to need some extra help. We are pleased that Congress passed the 13-week
extension of unemployment benefits. However, with the number of long-term
unemployed increasing, now is also the time to enact personal reemployment
accounts, which will provide targeted assistance to those who have had the most
difficulty finding new work.”
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