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U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary William E. Spriggs Office of Policy July 25, 2011. 2011 NAACP Convention: Labor Workshop Labor Market Outlook. Overview: How Far We Have Come. Nearly 3 million jobs were lost in the six months before President Obama took office.
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U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary William E. Spriggs Office of Policy July 25, 2011 2011 NAACP Convention: Labor Workshop Labor Market Outlook
Overview: How Far We Have Come • Nearly 3 million jobs were lost in the six months before President Obama took office. • In the month the president was inaugurated, the economy lost over 800,000 jobs. • The black unemployment rate rose 10 straight months before President Obama took office. • The actions of this Administration, including the passage of the Recovery Act had an immediate effect of stemming the tide of job losses. Through our actions, the economy has started to create private sector jobs and has done so in every month of this year. • Since February 2010, the private sector has added 2.1 million jobs • According to estimates from the Council of Economic Advisors, if the Recovery Act had not passed, as much as 3.5 million more jobs would have been lost.
Black Unemployment Rate in Context Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Industries with a Decline in Black Employment, 2007 - 2009 • From 2007 to 2009, black employment took the largest hits in: • manufacturing, • financial activities, • wholesale and retail trade, • transportation and warehousing, and • construction. • Together these industries employed nearly 1 million fewer blacks in 2009 than they did in 2007. In 2010, employment declines among black workers continued in financial activities, transportation and warehousing, and construction.
The Department of Labor – Investing in Our Workforce With an annual budget of about $10 billion appropriated by Congress, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration administers programs that have at their core the goals of enhanced employment opportunities for workers and economic prosperity for businesses.
The Department of Labor is working alongside other agencies in the Obama Administration to get blacks or African Americans back to work: • Wagner-Peyser program: From October 2009 to September 2010, 4.3 million or 19% of all participants were African-American. • Workforce Investment Act: From April 2009 to March 2010, 330,000 Adult and Dislocated African American workers received training and counseling. 140,000 found jobs from October 2008 to September 2009 • Community Based Job Training Grants: As of September 2010, 28,392 African Americans have been served. • High Growth and Emerging Industries Grants: As of September 2010, 13,060 African Americans have been served.
Transitioning more black youth to employment through programs targeting individuals affected by high poverty and high unemployment. • Programs such as Job Cops and YouthBuild provide job training and educational opportunities for low income or at-risk youth aged 16 to 24. As of September 2010, there are 8,380 African American youth enrolled in YouthBuild, representing nearly 60 percent of the participants served in the program. • Black youth represented approximately 50 percent of Job Corps students. In addition, VETS and ETA recently announced a pilot for 300 veterans to participate in Job Corps.
Tax Incentives for Small Businesses • Work Opportunity Tax Credit • The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a Federal tax credit that provides private-sector businesses incentives for hiring individuals by being able to reduce their federal income tax liability for hiring workers from among nine target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment. In FY2010 almost 850,000 certifications were issued by state work force agencies for this credit. • The target groups are long term TANF recipients, disabled veterans, people living in urban or rural empowerment zones, disconnected youth, unemployed veterans, the formerly incarcerated, and 18-39 year old SNAP (food stamp) participants. • Credits range from $9,000 per worker for hiring long term TANF recipients to $1,200 for hiring youth in the summer.
Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act • Under the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, enacted March 18, 2010, two new tax benefits are available to employers who hire certain previously unemployed workers (“qualified employees”). • The first, referred to as the payroll tax exemption, provides employers with an exemption from the employer’s 6.2 percent share of social security tax on wages paid to qualifying employees, effective for wages paid from March 19, 2010 through December 31, 2010. • In addition, for each qualified employee retained for at least 52 consecutive weeks, businesses will also be eligible for a general business tax credit, referred to as the new hire retention credit, of 6.2 percent of wages paid to the qualified employee over the 52 week period, up to a maximum credit of $1,000.
Steps to Enhance Job Creation American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Extension of Unemployment Insurance Extension of tax cuts for all Americans Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act Small Business Jobs Act
Steps being taken to improve labor market function Revision of temporary visa programs—H-2A and H-2B Updating of Office of Federal Contract Compliance regulations on posting of job openings
