Jobs News

By the Numbers: 170,000

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in Detroit on Monday, kicking off the opening of the North American International Auto Show and highlighting the resurgence of the American auto industry. Since Chrysler and GM emerged from bankruptcy in June of 2009, the auto industry has added 170,000 jobs—the best period of job growth for the industry in more than a decade.

When President Obama took office, the American auto industry was shedding jobs by the hundreds of thousands and GM and Chrysler faced the possibility of liquidation – which would have caused at least 1 million more jobs to be lost. The President made the tough choice to help provide the auto industry the temporary support it needed to grow and prosper.

Today, GM and Chrysler have repaid their government loans, and the “Big Three” automakers-- GM, Ford, and Chrysler-- are all adding jobs, generating profit, and investing in their U.S. facilities. Auto sales climbed in December for the seventh consecutive month and GM, Chrysler, and Ford saw their market share increase to over 47 percent in 2011, the second straight year that Detroit gained market share against their foreign competitors, something that had not previously happened since 1995.

This industry and our economy have a long way yet to go to repair the damage from this recession and return to full health. But the distance these companies and the auto industry have traveled over the past two years is a bright spot on the road to recovery.    

The Employment Situation in December

Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the economic policies that are helping us to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the recession that began at the end of 2007.  Most importantly, we need to extend the payroll tax cut and continue to provide emergency unemployment benefits through the end of this year, and take other steps the President has proposed in the American Jobs Act.

Private sector payrolls increased by 212,000 jobs and overall payroll employment rose by 200,000 jobs in December. The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 8.5 percent, the lowest level since February 2009. The drop in unemployment over the month was mostly due to employment growth, not lower labor force participation. The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.9 percentage point in the last 12 months. Despite adverse shocks that have created headwinds for economic growth, the economy has added private sector jobs for 22 straight months, for a total of 3.2 million payroll jobs over that period. In the last 12 months, 1.9 million private sector jobs were added on net, more than in any year since 2005. Nonetheless, we need faster growth to put even more Americans back to work.

Sectors with net job increases in December included transportation and warehousing (+50,200), health care and social assistance (+28,700), retail trade (+27,900), manufacturing (+23,000), leisure and hospitality (+21,000), and construction (+17,000).  Local governments lost 14,000 jobs and state government employment was unchanged.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

America’s Ideas to Support Entrepreneurship in Education, Energy, and Health Care

In December, the Obama Administration announced the Startup America Policy Challenge to identify high-impact ideas to support entrepreneurship in areas of national interest: education, energy, and health care.

To kick off the challenge, Secretary Arne Duncan (Department of Education), Secretary Steven Chu (Department of Energy), and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (Department of Health and Human Services) each asked the American public for ideas about how the U.S. government can break down barriers to entrepreneurship and enable the use of clean energy, digital learning, and health information technologies.

 On Quora, a public question and answer website, I asked the America people to respond to these specific questions:

• In the U.S. education system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new learning technologies?
• In the U.S. energy system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new clean energy technologies?
• In the U.S. healthcare system, what can the government do to best enable the use of new health information technologies?

  The response has been thoughtful, wide ranging, and inspiring. 

• On the subject of learning technologies, respondents had ideas to increase the flexibility of existing funds, spread best practices of what works, and improve basic infrastructure.  And a number of respondents provided feedback about reducing bureaucracy and empowering teachers.
• On the subject of clean energy technologies, respondents had ideas on how the US Government could support consumer awareness of clean energy, be an anchor customer, and invest in research and development. Respondents also suggested including negative externality costs into the price of fossil fuels, and were adamant that government not pick a “winning technology.”
• On the subject of health care IT, respondents proposed ideas to promote interoperability standards, ensure a greater focus on the end user experience, share industry best practices, and measure the impact of specific technologies.

 This is just a sampling of the great dialogue and answers – please feel free to vote on which ideas resonate with you and/or provide your own feedback.  In the White House and in the Agencies, we are reading your responses.

 To sharpen the dialogue a bit further and solicit additional input, I posted follow-up questions on Quora about specific barriers that customers face:

• Learning Technologies: Parents and teachers – what’s your biggest barrier to educating your kids that technology could solve?  How important is the ability to access your child’s assessment data in electronic form?
• Clean Energy:  Building and business owners – what’s your biggest barrier to using clean energy in your building or business?  How important is the ability to access your building energy usage data in electronic form?
• Health IT:  Doctors and patients – what’s your biggest barrier to using information technology to improve health outcomes?  How important is the ability to share or receive your health records data in electronic form?

 We look forward to hearing your feedback – so please keep it coming!

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

We Can't Wait to Help Young Americans Find Jobs

Your first job brings you more than just a steady paycheck – the experience teaches young people life and work skills that serve them long after the job is done. But as our nation continues to recover the deepest recession since the Great Depression, American youth are struggling to get the work experience they need for jobs of the future.

Today President Obama announced a new initiative, Summer Jobs+, that will make a difference.

“America’s young people face record unemployment, and we need to do everything we can to make sure they’ve got the opportunity to earn the skills and a work ethic that come with a job. It’s important for their future, and for America’s. That’s why I proposed a summer jobs program for youth in the American Jobs Act – a plan that Congress failed to pass. America’s youth can’t wait for Congress to act. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. That’s why today, we’re launching Summer Jobs+, a joint initiative that challenges business leaders and communities to join my Administration in providing hundreds of thousands of summer jobs for America’s youth,” said President Obama.

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for low-income and disconnected youth in the summer of 2012. The President proposed $1.5 billion for high-impact summer jobs and year-round employment for low-income youth ages 16-24 in the American Jobs Act as part of the Pathways Back to Work fund. When Congress failed to act, the Federal government and private sector came together to commit to creating nearly 180,000 employment opportunities for low-income youth in the summer of 2012, with a goal of reaching 250,000 employment opportunities by the start of summer, at least 100,000 of which will be placements in paid jobs and internships.

A centerpiece of the program will be the Summer Jobs+ Bank , a one-stop search tool for youth to access postings from participating employers that is targeted to launch in 60 days, which will use the same technology that powers the Veterans Jobs Bank that was launched late last year. Employers who want to offer opportunities to America’s young people can find out more here.

Related:
Find out why one intern tells her peers it is "critical" for them to take advantage of this opportunity

President Obama: Extending Payroll Tax Cut Is a "Boost We Need Right Now"

Watch President Obama's full remarks here.

President Obama today signed into law a two month extension of the payroll tax cut, which means that 160 million American workers will not see their paychecks shrink starting Jan 1, 2012. The President thanked Congress for ending the stalemate and urged them to keep working to reach an agreement that extends this tax cut as well as unemployment insurance through all of 2012, saying it is the right thing to do for American families and for the economy, and called it "a boost that we very much need right now."

The extension came after tens of thousands of working Americans turned to the internet to let politicians in Washington know just how much they were relying on that tax break, which amounts to about $40 per paycheck for a family making $50,000 a year, and the President acknowledged just how valuable their contributions had been to the conversation happening in the Capital:

Finally, I want to take a moment to thank my fellow Americans for bringing their voices to this debate.  I met with several here at the White House yesterday.  I really think it takes courage to believe that your voice can make a difference.  And I promise you, the American people, your voices made a difference on this debate.  Whether you tweeted or called or wrote, you reminded people in this town what this debate and what all of our debates should be about -- it’s about you.  It’s about your lives.  It’s about your families.  You didn’t send us to this town to play partisan games, and to see who’s up and who’s down.  You sent us here to serve and make your lives a little bit better; to do what’s right.  And fortunately, that’s how this week ended.

The President called on Congress to redouble their efforts to make sure the economy is growing and that jobs are being created, and called this period  a make-or-break moment for the middle class in this country.. 

TIGER Projects Remind Us What America Can Do

City of Cincinnati

Cross posted from the Department of Transportation's blog.

This week, the Department of Transportation continued its TIGER grant program, sending $511 million to 46 transportation projects in 33 states. Already the response has been tremendous.

At City Halls in Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and on the phone with major and local media outlets across the country, folks seem excited about the benefits these projects will provide and the jobs they'll create. I expect even more enthusiasm in Chicago shortly.

In the historic Philadelphia City Hall's Reception Room, I was happy to share with Mayor Michael Nutter and others the news of a $10 million grant for the city's IMPaCT project. This award will help pay for upgrades to 100 traffic lights and connect these controllers to the city’s traffic management system through fiber optic cable. The project includes technology to extend green lights for buses and trolleys when they need more time to get through an intersection. The money will also support upgrades to handicapped ramps and pedestrian countdown signals at crosswalks. 

When completed, this $32 million program will improve traffic flow for transit vehicles, synchronize signals to keep motorists moving, and increase safety for pedestrians and people with disabilities. That sounds like a big win for all Philadelphians.

Extending Unemployment Insurance Is Essential for Our Economy

Today, the White House released a new report that shows how extended unemployment insurance benefits have helped, and would continue to help, the economic recovery.  The report shows that unemployment insurance must be extended to ensure that millions of Americans are able to make ends meet and care for their families while looking for a job.   

The report, prepared by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Labor, found that five million workers will lose their benefits over the next year if Congress fails to extend unemployment insurance, including about 1.3 million people whose benefits will expire as soon as January. Additionally, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates that the economy will generate nearly 500,000 fewer jobs through 2014 if federally funded unemployment insurance benefits aren’t extended.

Extending and reforming unemployment insurance, along with extending the payroll tax cut and preventing taxes from going up on 160 million Americans, are critical components of the President’s plan to build a stronger middle class and a brighter future for the American people. 

To learn more about how unemployment insurance provides important support for the millions of Americans looking for work and helps them return to work sooner, read the full report here.

Providing Protections for In-Home Care Workers

Ed. note: This is cross-posted from Work in Progress, the Official Blog of the Department of Labor

In-home care service is a high growth industry, and it’s projected to grow by 50 percent between 2008 and 2018. In-home caregivers are an essential component of the health care system and will only become more important, as an increased number of patients turn to them for more affordable assistance with medical care as well as everyday tasks and household chores.

Many homecare providers earn less than the minimum wage and no overtime for these vital services. In 2007, then-Senator Obama spent a day with professional homecare worker Pauline Beck, assisting with her daily tasks and observing firsthand the unique challenges of in-home care (watch the video). He was impressed by Pauline’s dedication, and determined to assist her and others in her profession.

Today, Pauline joined me and President Obama as he announced a proposal from the U.S. Department of Labor to revise the Fair Labor Standards Act rules that would ensure fair pay for approximately 1.8 million workers who provide in-home care services for the elderly and infirm. This new rule would ensure that these hardworking professionals who provide valuable services to American families would receive the protections of minimum wage and overtime pay that nearly every employee in the United States already receives under the FLSA.

Many of these workers are the primary breadwinners for their families. Of the roughly 2 million workers who will be affected by this rule, more than 92 percent are women, nearly 50 percent are minorities, and nearly 40 percent rely on public benefits such as Medicaid and food stamps. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, home health care aides earn about $21,000 a year and many lack health insurance. That is unacceptable.

The proposed regulation would also ensure that employers who have been treating these workers fairly are no longer at a competitive disadvantage. Leveling the playing field for both workers and employers is a fundamental principle of the FLSA.

White Board: Brian Deese on the Payroll Tax Cut

In this new White House White Board, Brian Deese, the Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, explains how President Obama's payroll tax cut helps families, businesses, and the economy -- and why it's so important to extend that tax cut for 2012.

Watch the White House White Board video here.