U.S. Sec. of Labor Hilda Solis defended Friday's monthly jobs report as viewed over the long-term, but also called for more collaboration in Washington to fix the economy—sounding a lot like President Obama earlier Friday.
"When you look back, when the president started we lost 8.5 million jobs," she told Andrea Mitchell during a Friday appearance on msnbc. "Now we’re up to—in a 28-month period—4.4 million private sector jobs. Even though this number could have been better, we know we’re working every single day."
Mitchell pressed Solis to explain the political implication of the jobs report, described as weak by most accounts.
"Right now, you’ve got, let’s face it, a political problem," Mitchell said. "The persistent high unemployment in the Democratic base is a problem: 11% unemployment for Hispanics; 14% for African-Americans; nearly 24% for teenagers and you’ve got all these young people who you need to inspire."
Solis argued that more compromise and cooperation are necessary in Washington in order to make an impact. She pointed to the recent bipartisan agreement to pass the transportation bill, which included a measure to stop student loan interest rates from rising, as an example of success.
"That’s what the public wants to see," she said. "What needs to happen is people need to understand what we can control…We can get things done here if we have cooperation. We saw some signs of it I think last week. Yes, we need to do more, absolutely, but let’s have some cooperation and let’s work together."