After the Labor Department released its January jobs report Friday, the White House and the Republican National Committee had very different opinions on what the report showed.
The report showed that 20,000 jobs were lost in January, although the unemployment rate still edged down slightly to 9.7% from 10% in December. Comparatively, 779,000 jobs were lost in January of 2009.
"While unemployment remains a severe problem, today's employment report contains encouraging signs of gradual labor market healing," said Christina Romer, Chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers.
Romer said that, despite the unexpected decrease, the unemployment rate "remains unacceptably high."
"Even as today's numbers contain signs of the beginning of recovery, they are also a reminder of how far we still have to go to return the economy to robust health and full employment," she said.
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said that the numbers show that President Barack Obama made "empty promises" about how the stimulus package would help the economy.
"More than 20,000 Americans lost their jobs in the month of January, meaning more than 2.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the stimulus passed, and 171,000 workers became discouraged last month from seeking work," Steele said.
He added, "The resiliency of the American economy given its current challenges is incredible but later today President Obama plans to travel to Maryland to tout his binge spending agenda that will kill, not create, jobs."
In its report, the Labor Department revised December's job loss total from 85,000 to 150,000. The department said it estimates around 8.4 million jobs have been lost since December 2007.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.