Saturday, Feb. 4 — U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Northern Virginia,  the outgoing Chairman of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, today hailed the news in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) jobs report for January, which showed that the U.S. economy smashed expectations with 517,000 jobs created in January, as the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since May of 1969:

“This jobs report is fantastic. The U.S. economy has now created over 12 million jobs since President Biden took office.

“Contradicting dark predictions of recessions, the BLS data show solid economic growth, one of the strongest labor markets in history, and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969. The last time the unemployment rate was at 3.4 percent I was a freshman in college, Woodstock was still in the future, the Beatles were still together, and we hadn’t landed on the moon yet.

“This report also comes on the heels of better-than-expected GDP growth and other data showing that wages are up, small business applications are at all-time highs, and inflation declined sharply in the second half of 2022. I look forward to from hearing from the President next week about his vision to keep the historic economic progress of the Biden Boom going.”