The Labor Day celebration will be muted for 27 million Americans and their families
this weekend”, said Michael J. Wilson, National Director of Americans for Democratic Action,commenting on unemployment data issued today, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The rest of us can honor American workers and go to the beach, but we as a Nation should be taking further robust action to put Americans back to work.
The BLS reported that the total non-agricultural employment jobs declined slightly by
54,000 in August, while the overall unemployment rate remained at 9.6%. Federal government employment fell, as 121,000 temporary workers hired for the decennial census completed their work. On the other hand, the private-sector payrolls increased by 67,000 workers. This summer,the unemployment rate of 9.6% meant that 14.8 million would-be workers were unemployed.
An additional 2.2 million were marginally attached to the workforce, 1.1 million more were so discouraged by long-term job searches that they stopped looking for work, and 8.8 million took part-time work when they wanted and needed a full-time job. In other words, the real rate of unemployment was 16.7%, or 27.2 million individuals needing full-time jobs.
The only bright spots in the report were the growth of health care by 28,000, mining
by 8,000, professional and business services by 17,000, construction up 19,000, and retail trade gained 8,000 among motor vehicle and parts dealers.
On the other hand, manufacturing employment declined by 27,000 and offset the small but important gain of 36,000 manufacturing jobs in July . Employment of fabricated metals rose by 9,000. The country added 183,000 manufacturing jobs since December 2009. Our future prosperity rests on the restoration of manufacturing. America’s economic greatness has rested on making things, not on Wall Street’s shuffling of money by trading in obscure credit default swaps and derivatives that almost sent our economy over a cliff. According to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, the federal government, working in partnership with businesses, local and state governments, resulted in 11 straight months of growth in the manufacturing industry, creating 135,000 jobs over the six months preceding August.
Wilson advocates ADA’s agenda calling for additional actions that Congress should
take to put our nation’s unemployed back to work in good middle-class jobs, restoring our manufacturing base, boosting our exports, and refurbishing our infrastructure. “The federal government, working with private industry, state and local governments and together can support the growth of U.S. manufacturers for the markets of the future. Blather about the deficit is hypocritical nonsense and counter-productive until we have achieved full employment, so our workers are taxpayers”, he said.
Congress needs to develop, and the executive branch needs to implement, a National
Clean Energy Technology Export Strategy, and help U.S. firms find and navigate foreign markets. We should be building wind turbines, battery technologies, and solar panels to power our homes and businesses, not importing them from low-wage countries. To do so, Congress can help the clean-tech manufacturing sector to reduce production costs and encourage innovation, investment, and productivity. Clean energy technology exports could increase by $40 billion per year and create more than 750,000 jobs by 2020.
A Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act of 2010, H. R. 5156, passed the House on July 28, but is currently languishing in the Senate.
Congress should close tax loopholes and enforce corporate accountability by
preventing corporations from shipping jobs overseas and sticking American taxpayers with the bill. By passing HR 1586, the $26 billion jobs bill, Congress has already closed one loophole, the misused foreign tax credit, which encouraged corporations to shift jobs and profits off shore. But those who blocked a more robust jobs bill should be ashamed.
Another example: the House passed, but the Senate has held up, extending TANF Emergency Funds beyond September 30. The program employed 250,000 parents and youth, providing them with much needed job skills.
Congress should raise $100 billion by repealing myriad corporate deductions, like
those for the oil industry, which interfere with sound investment decisions and shift the tax burden onto working people. By enacting President Obama’s proposals to crack down on off-shore tax avoidance by corporations, Congress could raise $122 billion in a decade, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.
Wilson reiterated his call for effective job creation, restoration of America’s
manufacturing base, while fully paying for our action agenda by restoring basic tax fairness.
http://www.adaction.org/
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