Weekly Address: Ensuring Americans Feel the Gains of a Growing Economy

In this week's address, the President highlighted the good news in yesterday's jobs report -- that American businesses added 314,000 new jobs this past month, making November the tenth month in a row that the private sector has added at least 200,000 new jobs. Even with a full month to go, 2014 has already been the best year of job creation since the 1990s. This number brings total private-sector job creation to 10.9 million over 57 consecutive months -- the longest streak on record.

But even with this real, tangible evidence of our progress, there is always more that can be done. Congress needs to pass a budget and keep the government from a Christmas shutdown. We have an opportunity to work together to support the continued growth of higher-paying jobs by investing in infrastructure, reforming the business tax code, expanding markets for America's goods and services, making common-sense reforms to the immigration system, and increasing the minimum wage.

Watch the President's Weekly Address now.

314,000 New Jobs

As the President noted in his weekly address, U.S. businesses added 314,000 jobs last month, according to yesterday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What's more, our economy has added 2.6 million jobs in the first 11 months of this year -- which is already more than any full calendar year since the 1990s.

It's been a long road to this economic recovery, and there's still more work to do to ensure that hardworking Americans see higher wages. But our economy is making real progress, and we're outpacing much of the world in putting people back to work.

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"All Lives Must Be Valued"

On Tuesday, a grand jury in Staten Island decided not to bring criminal charges against police officers involved in the tragic death of Eric Garner. Speaking at the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference on Wednesday, President Obama made a statement on the grand jury's decision:

We have all seen the video of Mr. Garner's arrest. His death, of course, was a tragedy. All lives must be valued. Mr. Garner's death is one of several recent incidents across the country that have tested the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and the communities they are charged to serve and protect. This is not a New York issue or a Ferguson issue alone.

"This is an American problem," the President said. "When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, that's a problem. And it's my job as President to help solve it."

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Building Trust Between Communities and Local Police

Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and around the country have grabbed the attention of the nation and the world, and have highlighted the importance of strong, collaborative relationships between local police and the communities that they protect.

On Monday, President Obama announced new steps that we’re taking to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities that they are obligated to protect and serve.

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As always, see more of the week's events in the latest edition of West Wing Week.