[click image]New data from the Labor Department confirms that our nation faces the worst economic crisis of our lifetime. The Labor Department announced that 533,000 Americans lost their jobs in November -- the largest single-month drop since 1974. National unemployment stands at 6.7 percent. California’s rate is expected to rise above the 8.2 percent rate of October.
The unemployment rate is just one measure of our economic troubles, but it is an important one. One of my concerns is that an increasing unemployment rate will further endanger the housing market, with unemployed workers unable to make their house payments.
I’m working every day to find solutions to our economic situation. My staff and I are consulting with every county in the state to get a better picture of what is happening in communities across California and what federal actions will best assist those communities. We have heard strong support for jobs programs, for extending the Food Stamp program to help those families that are suffering, and to revise the COPS program that helps local law enforcement with staffing needs.
I am also working with my Senate colleagues to enact an economic recovery package that will create good jobs while also benefiting communities across America with roads and bridge projects, better flood control and other infrastructure programs, and mobilizing the nation for energy independence. Our goal is to have this package to President-elect Barack Obama just after his inauguration.
My top priority -- in fact, my only priority right now -- is to stabilize the housing market, create new, good-paying jobs, and get our economy back on track. Too many Californians are suffering to accept delay.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
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