States with the Highest Unemployment Received
Fewest Number of Jobs from Stimulus Contracts

In its first report of actual jobs created or saved from the $787 billion stimulus package, the federal government revealed that states with the highest rate of unemployment were awarded fewer jobs from their federal contracts. Overall, the report said that 30,383 jobs were created or saved—a far cry from President Obama’s goal of creating and saving 3.5 million jobs in two years.

For example, Michigan, with an unemployment rate of 15.2 percent, the highest in the nation, received only 400 new jobs, including “saved” ones, through federal contracts from the $787 billion recovery program, Businesses in Nevada, which has the second highest jobless rate, reported 159 new jobs, and Rhode Island, which has a 12.8 unemployment rate, the third highest in the country, reported receiving just six jobs.

The Obama administration does not seem disturbed by these figures. It estimates that it has created or saved one million jobs. It bases its figures partly on layoffs that were averted when the stimulus gave fiscal relief to the states, It also counted jobs that were saved or created when people spent their tax cut checks on goods and services.

The recovery stimulus is clearly being mismanaged when states with the highest unemployment rates are getting the fewest jobs. It is equally clear that too few jobs are being created at the current pace of federal spending. Of the $16 billion worth of stimulus contracts that were awarded directly by government agencies, only about 2.2 billion has been spent so far, according to government data.

Employers Continue Their Binge of Layoffs

The nation’s 500 top-ranking companies, many of them highly profitable, have laid off more than 500,000 employees. Layoffs in 2009 could reach record levels, according to Forbes’ tracking data.

The Obama economic team is always eager to publicize any mid-size company that is hiring back its employees. But there are more than 17,000 public employers and at least 20 million private companies. If layoffs continue at the current pace, the United States will have the worst record since 1945, when there were massive layoffs at the end of World War ii.

From the start of the recession, companies began laying off more people than they should have, counting on their remaining employees to take up the production slack, even with a cut in wages. They are not likely to give up this advantage until they are absolutely sure that rehiring some of their former employees will improve their financial balance sheet.

Do Our New Leaders Have a Plan for More Jobs?

It used to be that job security for its members was the most important priority for a trade union. Some of labor’s historic struggles were fought to preserve this principle. Is it as fiercely defended as it once was?

It used to be that solidarity was a highly meaningful term in the labor movement. Unions representing workers in one industry would respond to calls for help from workers in another industry. There was communication, not only between union leaders, but also their members. Why is the practice of solidarity so rare today?

Which brings us to our current dilemma: What can the labor movement do to create jobs for the 14.5 million workers who are currently unemployed? How can we find work for the growing army of Americans who have been without a paycheck for more than 27 weeks?

We, who are presently employed, should be sensitive to the hardship and misery that our unemployed brothers and sisters are enduring, and we should do whatever we can to help them.

That’s why we are turning to our new national leaders to suggest what concrete steps we can take to fulfill President Obama’s goal of 3.5 million jobs in two years. We hope they will respond favorably and post their answers on the AFL-CIO web site.

LaborTalk (8) will be posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009.