The jobs numbers are out for the month of October. The economy added 171,000 jobs for the month; higher than the 125,000 increase that economists had expected. The number of jobs added in August and September was also revised upward by a combined 84,000 jobs.
This marks the 42 straight month of job growth. While these numbers are not great they are a helluva lot better than when the president came in to office. As we recall the economy was losing 750,000 jobs per month at that time.
While these numbers are better than expected they are not where they need to be to generate a strong economy. One reason that these numbers are not better is the net loss of government jobs as a result of the austerity measures implemented by Republican state legislatures. Another reason is that the recession forced companies to work smarter and leaner. Many companies implemented technological advances which eliminated jobs…jobs that are never coming back. So we still have roughly 12 million able bodied, out of work Americans that need to feed their families.
There are things that the government can do to lower the unemployment rate. One way the government can help is by investing in community colleges to help workers learn new skills; skills that will help them to find work in this technologically advanced environment. Another way is to lower the cost of student loans to help kids get the education they need without graduating under a mountain of debt.
Recently released studies show that the unemployment rate for those entering the job market with a college degree is 3% while the unemployment rate for those who drop out if high school is 12%. There is a direct connection between education and jobs.
The president has demonstrated a clear grasp of the importance of education as it relates to jobs and our economy. He has implemented the items we noted above and has promised to increase the government’s investment in education to make sure that our children and our economy can compete on the world stage.
Other than educating our children what else can or should the government do to increase jobs?
We believe that one of keys to job growth in this country is being played out before our very eyes in New Jersey and New York. We’re talking about climate change.
Now before you get all worked up about this subject, let us be clear that we are not talking about the effects, if any, that man is having on global warming. We can discuss that at another time. We are talking about addressing the historic changes in the climate as it relates to the livelihood of the citizens.
Is there anyone with a pulse that cannot see the wild fluctuations in our climate? Over the past decade alone we have seen one climate related record after another shattered. Massive snow storms, monsoon rains, record heat waves/drought and hurricanes that are off the charts.
We see it again today with Hurricane Sandy. After we finished staring slack jawed at the enormity of the damage we were struck by the impotence of our ability to respond quickly and efficiently. The most powerful nation in the world is using 1950’s infrastructure to respond to the crisis. Millions are without power because our power grids are antiques. Our roadways are incapable of efficiently handling the massive flow in traffic as residents try to get out while first responders try to get in. Mean while victims suffer for days because help cannot get to them.
There are those who will say that we are over reacting. They say that Sandy is a once in a generation storm; never to be repeated again in our lifetime.
They said the exact same thing about Katrina.
We are near the end of the presidential campaign. Yet the words “climate change” have been noticeably absent from the debate. This makes no sense. Because recent history shows that climate change and our inability to respond has a huge economic effect on the country.
Climate change provides all the incentive we should need to repair and upgrade our infrastructure. Investing in our infrastructure serves to make us safer. But if that isn’t reason enough, there are other benefits to consider.
Upgrading our infrastructure not only enables us to better respond to a crisis but it helps to grow our economy as well. It enables us to move goods, services and workers faster and with more efficiency. It enhances our ability to communicate and respond to the needs of our customers. It positions us to better compete with other nations that have making investments in education, innovation and infrastructure while we have been spending our assets on blowing stuff up. Last but not least, upgrading our infrastructure creates the need for hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Whether the reason for the investing in our infrastructure is to protect us against climate change or to better position us to compete in a global economy; the result is hundreds of thousands of jobs. That’s a good thing.
Hurricane Sandy is a tragedy. She serves as a warning that we are woefully prepared to cope with the inevitable effects of climate change on our society. But she also provides us with the opportunity to modernize our infrastructure, create jobs, grow our economy and improve our quality of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment