Statement of acting U.S. Labor Secretary Edward C. Hugler on January 2009 employment numbers

WASHINGTON – Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Edward C. Hugler issued the following statement on the January 2009 Employment Situation report released today:

"The Employment Situation report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today underscores the seriousness of the economic situation. As these numbers show, the labor market continues to contract across American industries. The unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent or 11.6 million unemployed workers. January's decline in payroll employment reached 598,000, bringing total job loss to 3.6 million since the recession began in December 2007."