Ahead of a meeting with congressional leaders, President Obama hailed a solid jobs report Friday and said he wants to “build on this momentum” with the incoming Republican majority.
“This is the strongest jobs growth we have seen since the 1990s,” Mr. Obama told reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate in October fell to 5.8 percent from 5.9 percent, as the economy added about 214,000 jobs.
The president said there is more work to do.
“Despite the solid growth, despite the drop in unemployment there are still a lot of folks out there who are anxious about their futures,” he said.
Mr. Obama said he’ll be listening at a lunch meeting with congressional leaders of both parties for areas where the two parties can work together, such as getting people to work in manufacturing jobs, boosting exports and building on early childhood education.
SEE ALSO: Unemployment down to 5.8 percent with 214,000 new jobs created
“All these issues are ones in which there is a strong possibility of bipartisan cooperation as long as we set politics aside for a moment,” Mr. Obama said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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