Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) released the following statement on the unemployment rate rising to 7.9 percent, considerably higher than the 5.4 percent unemployment rate the Administration promised:

"Four years ago, President Obama was sworn into office after championing a message of hope and change; four years later, the unemployment rate is rising.  He promised sweeping reforms that would boost our hurting economy, including a trillion dollar stimulus package that would reduce unemployment to 5.4 percent and policies to reduce the deficit in half by now.  Today's high 7.9 percent unemployment and $16 trillion record debt show that the President's reckless pattern of spending, taxing, borrowing and regulating is not working; the Administration's policies have failed by its own standards.

"Families in Ohio and across the nation are weary of the empty rhetoric.  They are struggling to make ends meet amid a hurting economy, and the current policies are not helping to turn the economy around and create jobs for them and their children. Future generations cannot afford four years like the last, and Washington cannot risk kicking the can down the road any further. 

"We need new leadership to implement pro-growth policies that will give our economy a shot in the arm, create jobs, and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people that has made our nation great."