Jobs Numbers: We Need To Create More Jobs

Commenting on today's unemployment report from the BLS, which reported today that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent in March 2011. Campaign for America's Future co-director Roger Hickey made the following statement:

"These numbers are moving in the right direction, but even if jobs continue to grow each month by 216,000 new jobs. It will still take years to replace the jobs lost in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Today's numbers might get economists excited, but if you are an American without a job, they won't put food on the table."

Hickey also noted that public sector layoffs are sabotaging the recovery. "To no one's surprise, the federal and state governments are sending out pink slips. This means cops, teachers and firefighters are losing their jobs at a time when there are no other jobs available. The economy is not firing on all cylinders, which is why this is the worst time to lay off middle class Americans. That will slow the growth of the economy. The best way to decrease the deficit is to get unemployed Americans back to work."

Hickey, whose Campaign for America's Future conducted a Jobs Summit on March 10, also noted that today's unemployment rate does not include millions of people who want jobs but who have given up on seeking employment. "Eventually, these discouraged workers will move back into the search for work, raising the official unemployment rate."

Hickey noted a new poll from Gallup (released on March 31, 2011) found that one in four Americans say the best way to create more jobs in the U.S. is to keep manufacturing in this country and stop sending work overseas. A majority of Americans also suggest creating jobs by increasing infrastructure work, and helping small businesses.