Hillary Clinton Statement on February Job Loss

Today's dismal jobs news should put to rest any doubts that our economy is in deep trouble. We have now seen two straight months of job loss, and the 63,000 decline in February is the worst since March of 2003. This troubling news comes at the end of a week where oil toped $104 a barrel and we learned that home foreclosures hit an all time high in the fourth quarter of 2007.

These are painful reminders that we need a President who is ready to be a steward of our economy, starting on day one. Because behind these statistics, every job lost means there is another family missing a paycheck, another parent worried about providing for their kids, and another family in danger of losing their home.

The time for action is now. While the stimulus measures in the pipeline are important, it's going to take more than tax rebates to avoid a deep economic downturn. We need to immediately extend unemployment insurance and invest at least $5 billion right now in green-collar jobs to help avert a recession. And we need a comprehensive solution to the housing crisis, not more half-measures and hand-wringing. That is why I've called for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, a 5-year freeze on interest rates for subprime mortgages and a $30 billion emergency fund to help states handle the crisis in their communities.