This Thursday, December 3, the Obama Administration will hold a Summit on Jobs and Economic growth. The summit will bring together business leaders and financial experts to talk about ideas for expanding the economy and creating jobs.
This is an important step in moving forward the national conversation about jobs. Across the nation, this is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Unemployment, especially in low income communities and communities of color, is at levels we haven’t seen in more than 60 years. More than 15 million Americans are out of work. Over a third of them haven’t been able to find a job in more than 6 months of searching.
Here in Nebraska the economic downturn continues to impact communities with closures and job losses. Closures such as the Tenneco plant in Cozad, Nebraska, continue to have ripple effects on the community and economy both big and small – ranging from increased need for the free school lunch program to people leaving Cozad to find work elsewhere http://www.omaha.com/article/20091127/NEWS01/711279961
The national organization The Center for Community Change is promoting a Community Jobs proposal that contains two main principles:
- Provide job-related skills to make Americans more employable once the economy has turned around, and
- Strengthen the social and economic infrastructure of middle class and low-income communities.
After the summit, the president has plans to go on the road to discuss the nation’s rising unemployment rates. As the conversation continues, we hope these principles become central to the Administration’s plans. We are also curious to hear your perspective – what do you want to add to the national jobs conversation? Let us know!