WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Chief Economist David Huether issued a statement in response to the Department of Labor’s report on unemployment issued Friday. His statement warns that the economy is in a fragile state that could shift into reverse if Congress makes the wrong move.

“The Labor Department report today that the economy shed another 263,000 jobs in September while the unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent should be seen as a “yellow flag” for economic recovery," said Huether. "Our economy remains fragile and could stall out or even shift into reverse if Congress and the Administration enact policies that discourage investment, hamper flexibility and raise costs of doing business.

“Jobs are at stake. Since December 2007, employment has declined for 21 consecutive months, with total job losses surpassing 7.2 million. Though employment declines over the past few months have been two-thirds smaller than during the first quarter of the year, job losses continue to spread across the goods and service sectors of the economy. Economic conditions are better now than they were at the beginning of the year, but remain weak and have not gained sufficient strength to convince employers to begin hiring again. This uncertainty is reflected in the sharp decline in September purchases of motor vehicles now that the “Cash for Clunkers” program has ended.

“Manufacturing employment declined by 51,000 jobs to a level of 11.7 million in September. While manufacturing job losses in the third quarter of the year were 74 percent smaller than during the first quarter o 2009, the fact that just three of the 21 major manufacturing industries added employment in September demonstrates that the economy remains fragile,” Heuther concluded.