State of the Union pledge
"A year and a half ago, I put forward an American Jobs Act that independent economists said would create more than 1 million new jobs. And I thank the last Congress for passing some of that agenda. I urge this Congress to pass the rest."
FULL COVERAGE: Tracking 66 State of the Union proposals
President Obama first proposed the American Jobs Act in September of 2011 in a speech before a Joint Session of Congress. That measure was a $447 billion package that called for cutting payroll taxes, extending unemployment benefits and infrastructure projects. The full package was blocked by Senate Republicans in October 2011, so Obama broke up the bill to pursue individual items. In February 2012, Congress passed an extension of the payroll tax cut through the end of the year. That cut expired at the end of 2012.
- March 8: The unemployment rate falls to 7.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the month of February.
- April 5: Jobless rate drops to 7.6%; employers add 88,000 new jobs.
- May 3: The Labor Department announces that the unemployment rate fell to 7.5% in April, as employers added 165,000 jobs.
Sources: USA TODAY research; Associated Press