With the debt limit bill complete, Washington is now turning its focus to job creation. This issue is expected to heighten even further when a leading government agency that measures the nation's employment statistics releases its monthly jobs report tomorrow.
Shortly after the Senate passed a bill on Tuesday, Pres. Obama along with top Democrat and GOP members spoke about shifting their political priority this fall to jobs.
During a briefing by Democratic Leaders, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that “jobs won’t have to play second fiddle to the deficit anymore,” he added, “we welcome this chance to shift the playing field to jobs.” "Our caucus is very united, reducing our deficit with job creation being a part of it," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also said during a briefing that, "we are talking about jobs and small business creation."
Also speaking to reporters, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said lawmakers must do more for American families.
President Obama insisted from the White House Rose Garden that "When Congress returns from its August recess, I will urge them to immediately take some steps, bipartisan, common sense steps that will make a difference.” The President also called on Congress to pass a number of initiatives including pending free trade deals, an infrastructure bank and extension of unemployment benefits.
Senate Republicans also said they welcomed the opportunity to discuss jobs because, as Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) stated, “Republicans have never taken our eye off of job creation.”
“I’m often asked, ‘What would you do to get the economy going?’” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said. “My answer is always the same: We need to quite doing what we’ve been doing. Quit borrowing. Quit spending. Quit trying to raise taxes. Quit over-regulating and let the private sector flourish so we have a chance again to have a growing economy."
On Friday, lawmakers will likely react when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides a snapshot of the U.S. economy when it releases its Current Employment Statistics report. Last month, the BLS reported that the nation's unemployment rate for June went up to 9.2% percent. Economic analysts expect tomorrow's July report to show very little upward movement in those and other job sectors.
Updated: Wednesday at 4:37pm (ET)
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