West Virginia First District Congressman David McKinley says the U.S. economy has a pacing problem.
“We don’t have a vibrant economy. It’s just very gradually creeping along,” Congressman McKinley said of a Friday report from the U.S. Labor Department.
It puts the national unemployment rate at 7.7%, the lowest since December 2008. Across the country, a total of 146,000 jobs were added in November.
As the economy continues to recovery from the recession, Congressman McKinley says that is not enough. “The number should be closer to 300,000,” he said on Friday’s MetroNews Talkline.
Analysts say the U.S. economy is growing at a rate of 1.5% and some of the reason for that may be tied to the hit from Superstorm Sandy or questions about the looming fiscal cliff.
The Congressman says the growth rate needs to be two to three times more than that.
Since July, an average of 158,000 jobs have been added each month.