Join Biden in Live Webcast on the Economy and the Middle Class Today
 |
|
Click here at 10:30 a.m. EST to join Vice President Joe Biden as he hosts a live webcast with a panel of leading scholars to discuss the unique challenges facing America’s middle class in the 21st century economy.
This special Center for American Progress (CAP) and Economic Policy Institute (EPI) event will cover economic developments and trends affecting middle-class families, including changes to the overall labor market in recent decades, shifting gender roles, the need for a work-and-life balance in today’s economy, economic inequality and mobility, and the increased gap between productivity and wages.
Biden is chairman of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families that President Barack Obama established in January to ensure the administration’s economic recovery effectively raises the living standards of middle-class families and those aspiring to be in the middle class.
Click here to watch.
No Recovery Without Jobs. No Recovery Without Jobs. No Recovery…
 |
|
“Jobs now” was the rallying call of thousands of delegates to the recent AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh, and “unemployment aid” is the cry from millions of those who find themselves unable to get work in a U.S. economy that now has six jobless workers for every one job opening. More than eight of 10 Americans (83 percent) cite unemployment as the nation’s big problem in a survey just out by Peter D. Hart Research Associates.
And yesterday in Washington, D.C., several top economists, including Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman, all stressed that creating jobs and alleviating the pain of unemployed workers must happen quickly at the federal level—or unemployment will not fall below 8 percent through at least 2014.
That’s more than 12 million U.S. workers without jobs as America’s status quo. And that’s only the official unemployment figure. Those not counted in the official data likely would double that number to at least 24 million workers.
All those who think 24 million jobless workers is a fine way to operate the economy, raise your hands.
Poll: Creating New Jobs Trumps Fixing Deficit
|
|
With unemployment at the highest rate in 26 years, most Americans want the government to create more jobs before it worries about the deficit.
A new survey of public views of the economy, released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), shows more than eight of 10 Americans (83 percent) see unemployment as a big problem today.
While voters have some concern about the growth of the federal deficit, job creation is far and away their top priority. In fact, by a margin of 53 percent to 42 percent, voters are more concerned about rising unemployment rates than the rising federal deficit.
The Tracking the Recovery survey was conducted among 802 registered voters nationwide from Sept. 21-23 by Hart Research Associates for EPI. The poll takes an indepth look at Americans’ experiences in this recession, their expectations for the year ahead, their views of the government’s role and degree of success so far and their priorities for further government action. Click here to download the poll results.
Unemployment Reaches 26-Year High of 9.7 Percent
 |
|
Some 216,000 U.S. jobs were cut in August, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data out today. That worsens the unofficial unemployment rate to 9.7 percent, the highest rate since June 1983. The rate was 9.4 percent in July.
If underemployed workers or those who want a job but have given up looking are counted, the broader U.S. unemployment rate stands at 16.8 percent, up from 16.3 percent last month. That means more than 25 million Americans need jobs or full-time work but cannot find it. Worse yet, there now are 5 million long-term unemployed workers, the worst such figure in any recent recession. That means there were nearly six workers looking for every job available.
The 216,000 job loss is the smallest monthly decline since last year. Employers cut 276,000 jobs in July, compared with an average of 691,000 per month in the first quarter.
There is some good news: The economic recovery package has created about 1.2 million jobs, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Without the stimulus package, the monthly job loss would have been double what it was just six months ago.
247,000 Jobs Lost in July; Without Recovery Package, Would Be Far Worse
 |
||||
|
||||
U.S. jobs lost in July totaled 247,000, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data out today, with the unofficial unemployment rate now at 9.4 percent compared with 9.5 percent in June, the first improvement in the pace of job loss since June 2008.
The July jobless rate, while much better than economists predicted, still means 14.5 million U.S. workers are without jobs. And if the underemployed or those who want a job but have given up looking are counted, the broader U.S. unemployment rate stands at 16.3 percent, more than 25 million Americans who need jobs or full-time work but cannot find it. Jobs were lost in all sectors, except for education, health care, leisure and government, which all experienced small gains.
More frightening, the July job figures would have been far worse without the economic recovery package, which has helped to slow the pace of job loss to less than half of what it was just six months ago. From May to July, job losses averaged 331,000 per month, compared with losses averaging 645,000 per month from November to April.
Obama’s Economic Recovery Plan Already Created, Saved 720,000 Jobs
President Obama’s economic recovery package created or saved some 720,000 jobs in the second quarter, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Although the economy continued to shrink, the effect would have been much worse without the recovery act, says EPI economist Josh Bivens.
The Commerce Department is expected to announce tomorrow that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by about 1.5 percent in the second quarter, one-fourth the rate in the first three months of the year. Without the recovery legislation, the rate would have been around 4.5 percent, Bivens says. That translates into about 720,000 jobs, he adds.
AFL-CIO Executive Council Calls for Round 2 of Economic Recovery
 |
||||
|
||||
 |
||||
|
The nation’s working families and the economy desperately need a second installment on the Obama administration’s economic recovery plan. That plan, says the AFL-CIO Executive Council,
must focus like a laser beam on job creation.
Along with approving an economic policy statement outlining the urgent need for more economic recovery initiatives, the council, convening for a one-day meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., also welcomed two new members, Letter Carriers (NALC) President Fredric Rolando and AFGE Vice President Rogelio Flores.
The council honored former council members William Young, who recently retired as NALC president, and AFGE Vice President Andrea Brooks, who died in April. To help support the work of the Alliance for Retired Americans, the council proposed the creation of the Preserving Union Values Charitable Foundation.
Although the first round of economic stimulus has made huge strides is shoring up our economy, the council pointed out in its statement that the Bush administration’s economic legacy created such “economic devastation—in finance, housing and jobs,” that
The challenge of fixing this economic mess is enormous—and urgent. Creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced is central to the solution.
Unemployment is expected to hit 10 percent later this year and remain high in 2010. So far 6.6 million jobs have disappeared since the beginning of the recession in 2007, including 1.9 million manufacturing jobs and 1.3 million construction jobs. For those with jobs, wages are stagnant or shrinking and many workers face forced furloughs. As the council statement says:
It is crystal clear that urgent action from the federal government is needed to boost economic growth and jobs, and invest in America’s future.
Get Economic Recovery Information at the Working for America Institute
 |
|
With billions in federal economic recovery funds available for job training and education, the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute is the go-to place for union leaders seeking the latest information on training and workforce development opportunities. Through a series of Web announcements, webinars and conference calls, the institute is keeping the union movement abreast of the opportunities to better educate the nation’s workforce and rebuild the middle class.
The institute offers a practical new guide to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For example, the latest posting announces some $220 million in new training grants for health care and high-growth industries. The U.S. Labor Department defines high growth and emerging industries—in addition to health care—as fields such as information technology, advanced manufacturing, wireless and broadband deployment, transportation and warehousing and biotechnology.
Sweeney, Global Unions Call for Stronger Stimulus Measures
Workers are the innocent victims of the worldwide economic crisis and their governments must take stronger actions to stimulate the global economy, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told the leaders of the world’s top economies today.
Governments should ensure that their recovery measures are big enough to maintain and protect jobs and provide social protections, Sweeney told the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) annual forum June 23-24 in Paris.
Obama’s First 100 Days Mark Major Wins for Working Families
It’s worth repeating—again and again: What a difference an election makes, especially an election in which working family voters pool their strength and efforts to put an end to the most anti-worker, corporate-beholden administration in modern times and elect a president who shares our values and dreams.
Today is the 100th day of Barack Obama’s presidency. In the past three months, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and the Democratic Congress—operating with a Republican axe hanging over it—have made major strides to rebuild America for working families.
