The pain of the unemployment axe continues as new numbers
from the U.S. Department of Labor show employers cut 263,000 jobs last month.
The unemployment rate now stands at 9.8 percent, a 26-year high. The rate would
have been much higher had 571,000 people – frustrated over not being able to
find a job – not dropped out the labor force last month.
News of the increase comes on the heels of a survey showing
Americans are more concerned about jobs than they are with the rising federal
budget deficit. The “Tracking
the Recovery: Voters' Views on the Recession, Jobs and the Deficit”
report released by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows 83 percent of
Americans see unemployment as a huge problem and 73 percent believe the
government must first act to get Americans back to work, before it can even
begin to address budget issues.
“These findings will help policy makers understand that they
can do what they need to do to create a sound, jobs-based recovery without
losing public support over the federal deficit,” says EPI President Lawrence
Mishel. “And for those who have assumed that the deficit will trump all other
concerns, it’s a wake-up call.”
The IAM has been urging the federal government to address
the growing jobs crisis since the launch of its JOBS Now! campaign in early
summer. The initiative calls for a second stimulus package – this time, one
that focuses directly on creating jobs. JOBS Now! calls for a 21st
century-style program, similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress
Administration, which put more than 8.5 million Americans back to work in
government-funded public works projects. The EPI survey shows 71 percent of
Americans support such a measure. In addition, the JOBS Now! campaign also
demands more opportunities for Americans to upgrade their skills through
training and higher education.
“The IAM’s JOBS NOW! campaign is exactly the kind of ‘sound,
jobs-based recovery’ this country needs,” says IAM International President Tom
Buffenbarger. “The deficit is a problem – but having more than 31 million
Americans idled to any degree is a much bigger problem. The time for Congress
to act is now. Families cannot afford to wait.”
For more information and to urge Congress to support JOBS Now!, click here. Also, help spread the word to your family and friends by joining the JOBS Now! campaign on Facebook by clicking here.
Sat. October 10, 2009
Our local TCU exec Board is working hard at getting rid of the senior volunteers at Kelso and Olympia, WA. The Olympics are coming and the state has spent millions to entice travelers to spend a few days in the state! So what will they think when they meet Hank and his bud's at OLW, our state capital!. Hank is 85 plus years old and on a walker. Hank cannot offer any real help because, he looks like he needs help himself. How many Amtrak Paxs are going to ask Grandpa to help lift their Bags into the train car...Wish us luck, The fight has been won in NC and VA. We hope to have a real chance @ a victorty in a few short weeks.Fri. October 09, 2009
IF WE GET THE TANKER DEAL FOR THE 767 WE SHOULD BRING THE PARTS BACK TO THE USA AND NOT SENT MY /OUR TAX MONEY OVER OVER SEA. IF WE DON'T BRING OUR JOBS BACK WHATS THE DIFFERENCE WHO GETS THE DEAL. BRING THEM JOBS HOME OR WHO CARES.