The specter of a double dip recession came roaring back to life today with news from the U.S. Labor Department that the nation's unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent, with only 18,000 jobs added in June.
"This is beyond embarrassing," said Union of Unemployed Executive Director Rick Sloan. "When a Democratic administration cannot add more than 18,000 jobs a month a year after its much ballyhooed "Summer of Recovery," it is time for a complete cabinet shakeup. It is long past time for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to leave. Now it is time for an all-of-government focus on job creation.
"Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should form the core of a JOBS NOW cabinet-level working group. Their real-life experiences can replace the misguided academic approach taken to date," said Sloan. "And their departments have both the resources and talent to fashion an effective jobs program, one worthy of the job creation legacy left by Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson and Clinton."
UCubed is a community service project of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) designed to assist the millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans, and to provide them with a structure that allows them to take advantage of their growing numbers. For more information, visit Ur Union of Unemployed.
Contacts:
IAMAW
Frank Larkin
301-967-4520 (office)
202-285-3831
(mobile)
flarkin@iamaw.org
