The State of Jobs

" When the rate climbed to nine point 2% this morning with the release of the Labor Department may employment report. Now while that wait may be up job cuts may be down for the second month of low. But an estimated 520000. Job losses last month. First is 539000. Lost in April march 699000. As states are getting their hands on some of the 787. Billion dollars American recovery and reinvestment act. To help create employment opportunities. He's fat and not and water state and local leaders doing right now with that money to create jobs here's my take number one. We need to stay would be basically stem the tide on the job front and figure out. What we're doing to address private sector jobs particularly those that are created by small businesses. Number two. Will the work will -- work programs will ultimately work to retain enough people. Those worker training programs and number three concerned that the stimulus package is ultimately not in not to help the job situation. Perhaps time is the only cure but keep in mind that the under employee numbers. Are much more disconcerting. And you gotta make sure you look at the big picture not just the unemployed. Joining me right now is near -- arrow of Lansing Michigan mayor RT buyback of Minneapolis and street Steve Crowley. The host of American scene radio program and the financial TV program. Wall Street -- morning everybody could defeat got a -- realizes all right mayor -- let me start with you let me walk through some of the numbers here the unemployment rate -- you know -- in the highest in the country twelve point 9%. I just gaining a little less than four billion dollars in this stimulus. Good enough to help increase in save jobs -- Well look a lot of."

" That is going into infrastructure that's going to roads it's going into retraining of workers that we're trying to get the business incubator. I've been going to generate new ideas and for business startups. But look he -- we've talked about this for months the best stimulus is a stimulating job. People need jobs they -- they want long term security. And so of the temporary help is greatly appreciate that -- we we need to restore health of the economy and you know Lansing dodged a bullet we were very fortunate not to have any plant closures with GM in fact our factories may get a little more work. But still in the long run we need help the auto industry we need to make sure that were making the cars of the future in places like Lansing Michigan. And and I think the economy in terms of people started to buy again I mean they they want they want that long term future when you talk about retraining. I'm off for the retraining but I getting emails from people all over the country is safe. -- two or three times and the job is eliminated and so what are we going to retrain the man and you know I've talked about this we need to have -- at a manufacturing I'm not giving up I don't think we can be post manufacturing society I think we have to find a way the we have manufacturing in this country advanced manufacturing and that means leveling the playing field on trade until we do that we're not going to have a permanent -- yeah."

" I mean here right back I'm I'm concerned about the training efforts to I mean that's -- appearing as one of the cure is to solve the problem here and I'm concerned that. It's not really going to. Truly impact job creation it's great to learn a lot of other. You know things to do an end and skills to have but again today it's not a job."

" Well I totally agree with your plant will say that in the middle of a recession he education and training is is if you're ever going to do it it's a good time to do it but first -- first and foremost. We didn't just wake up through retraining issue when the economy went south we've been doing it for a number of years but I took office unemployment was 1% higher. In the city there in the suburbs today at lower in the city in the rest of the region very few cities can say that the reason is. Because we've been an ongoing training effort for hard to employ people. Now when you hit a period of time like this is a big challenge. -- two things you have won the fact that there are a lot of people were out of work felons for instance some of the key construction trades. Up to half the people will be sitting on the bench. Mean what we know that coming -- is going to be I -- economy that's going to be based a lot of clean energy including some of the whether they should work. They're really takes skilled workers. So we have this tough problem needing workers in the future if you train them for trades where. Other high unemployment you have a problem. We've but I spent more all yesterday morning I'm meeting with trades and other folks trying to talk about that tough issue. We do however have to say he's got a great job at the end of it fell we've put a lot of our stimulus dollars into. Creating those new clean energy jobs we put some significant investment in the solar. Trying to make sure that works we are training people to do -- inflation retreating -- do green roof installation. And are putting incentives in it they create more green groups. Now those are not going to bring back the manufacturing base of America anchor the mayor very much so I'm not given up on making things -- America. I just got back from China. And part of what we need to do as well if it happened to a global economy. And I we -- a Danish med tech firm into Minneapolis where it's now moved -- headquarters here. 600 new jobs that's part of it too. But today -- home grow the economy you have to be part of a global economy you have to train workers. No there's what no one easy thing."

" Steve you talk to people every single day -- nationally syndicated radio show what people saying about the jobs retirement."

" Well sometimes you can't get a job and your local area sometimes people have to move we talked to one person with the CPA MBA couldn't get a job himself Florida if they would move to Houston there's plenty of jobs is a shortage of CPA MBA so. Sometimes you do have to retrain go back to school. People who learn Chinese right now can get a job I guarantee it."

" So fifty you've been doing this for very long time."

" Have you seen anything like that's no no no one has really senator -- of the back to the thirties -- really see something like this this is. Unbelievable time in American history but I think it's getting a lot better I think 1218 months from other market is predicting that that the jobs market is going to be --"

" Let's say it elects Alexander I had the -- the chickens have come home to -- on this free trade we've had unfettered free trade its unilateral economic disarmament and the last speaker you know I appreciate that and I I I hope he's right that things turn around but there's a complete disconnect between the stock market between Wall Street and main street because most of the production in this country have been shipped overseas we've taken the GDP gross domestic product we've replaced it with a C we have gross domestic consumption. And that we move so much with these unfair trade policies we've moved so much of our production overseas that what you can see is this the stock market can't recover I think. And because the -- most of its overseas and we shipped to Malaysia and China and you can pollute the environment and exploit the workers and pay a lot less I guess Wall Street can make more about main street is hurting. And I don't see that turning around until we finally bring these jobs back to the United States and it's not that these jobs evaporated that's a -- that these manufacturing jobs just evaporated into the air because -- technology. Not at all we have these jobs here in Lansing the new factories are wonderful they are -- and we have workers in -- but more and more of these high tech high and advanced manufacturing jobs are going to places like Mexico and China. And we've got to find a way to reverse that have fair trade that favours American workers that allows American workers to."