Urgent Need For Obama Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan Clear as Unemployment Soars to 7.2 Percent and

Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now: “All Eyes Are On Congress to Swiftly Move Forward Obama Recovery Plan to Create Millions of Jobs, Stabilize the Economy and Lift Up America’s Middle Class Families”

Washington, DC - The need for major and immediate action to address the worst economic crisis in decades was underscored today with the latest U.S. Labor Department unemployment report showing 524,000 more Americans lost their jobs in December -- bringing the year end total to a staggering 2.6 million. The national unemployment rate also climbed to a 16 year high of 7.2 percent. The Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now, a coalition of more than 20 leading labor and progressive groups, said the sobering jobless report is only the tip of the iceberg for an economy deeply steeped in recession if Congress does not swiftly pass a major jobs and economic recovery package, as outlined by President-Elect Barack Obama. Obama's plan will create or save at least three million jobs, strengthen our middle class, and improve the economy in the near and long term by making sound investments in health care, energy efficiency, transportation and schools.

Brad Woodhouse, President of Americans United for Change: "With the U.S. economy sliding further and further into recession, waiting out this economic storm is simply not an option. A stunning 2.6 million jobs disappeared last year, and if nothing is done and done soon, millions more American jobs are at stake. With the economic news continuing to get worse, there is no time to spare to turn our economy around. Efforts by some to slow down the passing of President Elect Obama's major jobs and economic recovery package could not be more misguided and inappropriate considering the dire situation the economy continues to face - a point underscored with the news today that unemployment is now at an alarming 7.2 percent. It is time to put the nation ahead of politics and ideology and support President-Elect Obama's economic recovery plan that will create or save 3 million jobs through solid and sound long-term investments in health care, energy efficiency, transportation and education."

Launched on December 18th with nearly 50 events from coast to coast, the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery is a coalition of more than 20 leading progressive groups and unions utilizing all the resources and techniques of a modern campaign to pass the Obama plan. From grassroots and grass tops contacts, to phones, emails, web videos and paid advertising - this $4-5 million campaign aims to pressure key and potentially deciding votes in Congress and to build a movement for an overwhelming victory for this package so that the American people have confidence in the plan and its ability to help turn our economy around.

More than 20 leading progressive organizations and unions with millions of members have signed onto run a major campaign to pass a significant jobs and economic recovery package to create millions of jobs and help the economy grow in the near and long term. To date, the following organizations have signed on the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery Now: AFSCME, SEIU, AFLCIO, NEA, Americans United for Change, USAction, Campaign for America's Future, ACORN, Health Care for America Now, Sierra Club, People for the American Way Foundation, National Women's Law Center, TrueMajority.org, Young Democrats of America, 21st Century Democrats, Community Action Partnership, Institute for Policy Studies - Cities for Progress, Progressive Future , National Priorities Project , Cities for Progress, Progressive Future,Working Group on Extreme Inequality, YWCA USA , Economic Policy Institute, Women's Voices. Women's Vote Action Fund and the League of Conservation Voters.

Posted by Lauren Weiner