Sequestration Endangers Employment Gains, says Labor Union

Even as employment increased by nearly a quarter-million jobs in February, the unemployment rate ticked town to 7.7 percent, and the construction industry added 48,000 jobs, The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) found cause to criticize the U.S. Congress in its failure to avoid sequestration. Representing about 500,000 workers, LIUNA is a labor union in the construction industry. Terry O’Sullivan, general president of LiUNA, stated,

“Today’s jobs report shows the lowest U.S. unemployment rate in 5 years with gains occurring in a wide variety of industries. Construction is starting to show signs of recovery but is still facing a 15.7 percent unemployment rate – more than twice the national average.

“This report, compiled from household and pay period surveys taken before sequestration cuts were enacted, suggests that our economy is on the right track and that the worst repercussions of the Great Recession are behind us. However, thanks to Republican leaders in Congress and the devastating impact of sequestration, we know these numbers don’t accurately reflect the direction our economy is moving in.

“Republicans leaders in Congress have put our economic recovery at risk to score political points and to protect tax loopholes for Wall Street and their rich contributors. Congress needs to stop playing games and start working together to end the threat of sequestration before it reverses the forward momentum of our economy and slowly erases the hard-won economic gains shown in today’s jobs report.”