Despite Gulf Spill, Meek Sees Economy Recovering and Jobs Coming Back

With the national unemployment rate falling to 9.7 percent, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic candidate in the race for the U.S. Senate, is expressing some hope that the economy is coming around -- and he is praising the Obama stimulus package for the start of the turnaround and claims that the measure led to more than 153,000 jobs across Florida.

"Today's news makes me cautiously optimistic that we're turning the page from recession to recovery, said Meek. Clearly, too many people are still unable to find work and make ends meet, but we have begun to pull the economy back from the brink of collapse. Most importantly, we are making a clean break from the failed Bush policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

With Floridas unemployment rate still above the national average, Meek expressed some concern about the oil spill in the Gulf and how that will impact jobs in the Sunshine State.

"In Florida, we have to pay special attention to the Gulf Coast, said Meek. Floridians in the fishing industry, charter boat operators, tourism workers and small business people are having their livelihoods threatened by this oil spill. They must be included in Florida's recovery. Otherwise Floridians will once again be left behind the rest of the country's economic recovery.