Obama Tells His Cabinet: ‘Our Work Is Paying Off’

“The good news is, about halfway through 2015, we've already seen some significant progress. The unemployment rate is now at its lowest in almost seven years. Businesses created 3 million jobs over the past 12 months, nearly the fastest pace in over a decade. On the health care front, the uninsured rate has now fallen by the largest amount in four decades, even as health care inflation continues to be lower than it has been in a very long time. So our work is paying off. But we've got to build on that progress. And our overarching goal remains the same, which is how do we make sure everybody in this country gets opportunity. That means that we're going to keep fighting to make sure that community colleges are as free and as universal as high school. It means we're going to go after issues of poverty and inequality, both urban and rural. It means that we're going to continue to expand on our job training agenda and our apprenticeship agenda so that people of all ages have the skills that they need to succeed in this economy. It means we're going to continue to go after ISIL, get a strong deal that prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And as part of our agenda for middle-class economics, it means that we're going to continue to pursue strong trade agreements that benefit American workers and American businesses. And I want to thank the bipartisan group of senators who took a big step forward this morning on the trade agenda that is consistent with strong labor standards, strong environmental standards, and is going to open up access to markets that too often are closed even as these other countries are selling goods here in the United States.”