Unemployment and Job Retraining Programs

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In the current economy, where the unemployment rate is significantly higher than normal in comparison to previous years, the people are clamoring for solutions from their leaders in government. There have been plans in the works in the Obama administration to create more jobs, yet nothing has come to fruition. Currently, as Congress is teetering towards gridlock once again, the Republican House Speaker and House Majority Leader have proposed to President Obama that he include a plan called “Georgia Works” into his latest proposal to Congress. The program would find temporary jobs for people without any cost to the employers. These people would also receive job training while getting unemployment pay or payment from the government with the hopes that they would eventually be hired for a full time job (Calmes). In his State of the Union address, the President included the plan, but it brings up the question of scope of government. Should making programs that will keep Americans employed until they can find proper employment the responsibility of the federal government?

The United States was in a recession from December of 2007 to June of 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (National). During that time the unemployment rate was in the range of 5% to 9.5% (Labor). What is confusing to many American is that while they are being told the economy is growing and the recession is over, the unemployment rate is still fairly high. In fact, only four months after the recession “ended,” in October 2009 the unemployment rate peaked at 10.1%. It has been steadily decreasing over the past two years to its current 9.0%. President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act to rectify the unemployment problem in...

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...an Journal Of Political Science 54.4 (2010): 906-920. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.

Edwards, George C., First III, Martin P. Wattenberg, and Robert L. Lineberry. Government In America, People, Politics, And Policy. 11th ed. Longman, 2011. Print.

“Labor Force Statistics From the Current Population Survey.” data.bls.gov. Bureau of Labor Statistics. n.d. Web. 28 November 2011.

Office of Press Secretary. “Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Act.” whitehouse.gov. The White House. 8 September 2011. Web. 28 November 2011.

The National Bureau of Economic Research. National Bureau of Economic Research. n.d. Web. 28 November 2011.

“The long-term unemployed: The ravages of time.” The Economist. 1 October 2011. n.p. Web. 29 November 2011.

Silverleib, Alan. Obama vows to break jobs plan into separate bills after Senate setback. CNN, n.d. Web. 28 Nov 2011.

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