Jobs News

The Vice President and Dr. Biden Visit U.S. Vets in Las Vegas

On Tuesday, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden visited the Las Vegas branch of the non-profit United States Veterans Initiative (U.S. Vets). With a mission to help homeless and at-risk veterans find jobs, U.S. Vets provides comprehensive support that includes housing, counseling, and career development programs. The Las Vegas group alone works with more than 160 veterans every day.   

At the organization’s career center, the Vice President and Dr. Biden joined a life skills workshop, where they met with veterans who are either currently working or searching for work.

Top Chicago Employers Seek to Hire Veterans and Military Spouses

The 100,000 Jobs Mission – a coalition of 55 companies committed to hiring 100,000 veterans by 2020 – is partnering with federal, state and local leaders to host a hiring event in Chicago this Thursday, July 12, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

The event will feature 80 employers and more than 1,500 employment opportunities. These companies are looking to hire transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses for jobs ranging from entry-level to managerial positions in the Chicago area and across the country.  

Candidates are encouraged to register and upload their resumes ahead of time and should come prepared for same-day interviews – and even same-day offers. With more than 12,000 veterans hired in the 100,000 Jobs Mission’s first 12 months, these employers are committed to the long-term success of veteran employment and are among the 2,100 companies throughout America who have hired veterans and military spouses through Joining Forces in the last year.  

The Employment Situation in June

While the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, much more remains to be done to repair the damage from the financial crisis and deep recession that followed. It is critical that we continue the policies that build an economy that works for the middle class and makes us stronger and more secure as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession. There are no quick fixes to the problems we face that were more than a decade in the making. President Obama has proposals to create jobs by ending tax breaks for companies to ship jobs overseas and supporting State and local governments to prevent layoffs and rehire hundreds of thousands of teachers.

Today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that private establishments added 84,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 80,000. The economy has now added private sector jobs for 28 straight months, for a total of 4.4 million payroll jobs during that period. Employment is growing but it is not growing fast enough given the jobs deficit caused by the deep recession.

Landmark Court Decision Upholds EPA's Actions to Protect Families

Earlier this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed – via a unanimous ruling – several important steps taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the health of American families, save consumers money at the pump, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. 

This was a landmark decision with several key components: 

• The Court upheld EPA’s science-based finding that carbon pollution endangers the public’s health and welfare, noting the “substantial record evidence.” 
• The Court protected the Administration’s historic fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, adding that EPA’s implementation of the Clean Air Act was “unambiguously correct.” 
• Finally, the Court dismissed several petitions challenging a requirement for some of the nation’s largest polluters – starting with new power plants – to install widely-available and cost-effective pollution control technology, while shielding smaller emitters, arguing that “no petitioner had standing.” 

Another Step Forward Toward Energy Security

Today, the Obama administration is offering 39 million acres of the most oil- and gas-rich area of the Gulf of Mexico in order to increase the exploration and production of America’s domestic energy resources. This is a landmark sale – we estimate that up to 1.6 billion barrels of oil and 6.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be produced as a result of the acres leased. Holding this lease sale reinforces our commitment to increasing U.S. production, reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, and incentivizing prompt development of the leases that industry holds. 

The bottom line: it’s good news for American jobs, good news for the Gulf economy, and it’s good news for the President’s efforts to expand safe and responsible production of America’s abundant domestic resources. 

Despite misleading rhetoric from some, the President has made clear he is committed to expanding oil and natural gas production safely and responsibly, and today’s sale is just the latest example of his administration delivering on that commitment. As part of the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, this sale builds on a series of actions taken by the Obama administration, including additional lease sales in both onshore and offshore areas for oil and gas development. 

Reforming Unemployment Insurance to Protect Jobs and Incomes for American Workers

In his inaugural address, President Obama praised workers who “would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job.”  But in most states, our unemployment insurance (UI) system discourages reducing hours in this way. A worker who is laid off has access to UI benefits that temporarily cover part of lost wages, but a worker whose hours are reduced has no such access, creating an incentive for layoffs while leaving workers who face an involuntary reduction in their hours with no protection or support. Today the Department of Labor is issuing guidance on new legislation that will help to address these problems. This guidance is part of a series of important UI reforms designed to contribute to job creation and job placement that the President proposed in the American Jobs Act, were signed into law in February and are now being implemented. 

Programs in some states that allow workers whose hours have been cut to claim pro-rated UI benefits—so-called short-time compensation or work sharing programs—help to keep workers on the job.   President Obama has long advocated the expansion of work sharing to help employers and their workers. It’s an idea that has been supported by economists across the political spectrum. The President’s proposal to expand the number of states with work-sharing programs, and increase employer awareness of the benefits of work sharing, was included in both his FY 2012 and 2013 Budgets, and in last September’s American Jobs Act. That proposal was signed into law on a bipartisan basis as part of the February extension of the payroll tax cut, and is being implemented today through guidance released by the Labor Department. 

My First Job: Richard Kind

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

In the video below, actor Richard Kind talks about his first summer job, working to set up the jewelery and china departments at a new store. Richard had to make sure that every piece in a set of china came into the store intact, and destroy any sets that weren't perfect. In hindsight, the skills he employed on that job don't translate in his current career, but he did learn that you can have fun in the most unexpected ways at work.

Watch Richard Kind talk about his first job here:

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+. 

You heard about Richard's first job. Now go find yours.

Learn more

• Watch Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, talk about her first job
• Watch Cecilia Munoz, Director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, talk about her first job.
• Watch Jimmy Fallon talk about his first job.
• See the list of participating employers and organizations
• Check out a range of web and mobile apps designed to connect young people to jobs.

My First Job: Chris Lu

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

As the Cabinet Secretary in the White House, Chris Lu is President Obama’s primary liaison to the Cabinet departments and agencies, helping to coordinate policy and communications strategy. In the video below he talks about his first summer job, as an office assistant at a federal research lab in Maryland, where his responsibilites included mopping up the mess after safety showers were tested. Chris says he still has those mop skills, and he also retains the appreciation he learned for the important work federal employees do every day.

Watch Secretary Chris Lu talk about his first job here:

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+. 

You heard about Chris's first job. Now go find yours.

Learn more

• Watch Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, talk about her first job
• Watch Cecilia Munoz, Director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, talk about her first job.
• Watch Jimmy Fallon talk about his first job.
• See the list of participating employers and organizations
• Check out a range of web and mobile apps designed to connect young people to jobs.

Congress Says No to Equal Pay

Equal pay for women is about more than just fairness. Women are breadwinners in more than 50 percent of American households, and if they're making less than men do for the same work, families have to get with less money for childcare and tuition and rent, and small businesses have fewer customers. Everybody suffers. 

President Obama supports passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a comprehensive and commonsense bill that updates and strengthens the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. Following Congress's failure to act on this bill today, the President released the following statement:

This afternoon, Senate Republicans refused to allow an up-or-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, a commonsense piece of legislation that would strengthen the Equal Pay Act and give women more tools to fight pay discrimination. It is incredibly disappointing that in this make-or-break moment for the middle class, Senate Republicans put partisan politics ahead of American women and their families. Despite the progress that has been made over the years, women continue to earn substantially less than men for performing the same work. My Administration will continue to fight for a woman’s right for equal pay for equal work, as we rebuild our economy so that hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and every American gets a fair shot to succeed.

 

Learn more about wage inequality and its effects on American families here